A South African entertainment conglomerate is the latest corporate to sign up to the YES initiative, a move that is expected create about 500 job opportunities for the youth.

The JSE-listed MultiChoice Group joins more than 1 000 partner companies involved in the programme, which aims to provide unemployed youth with 12 months of quality work experience. To date, around 35 000 new jobs have been created through the initiative, which was launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2018.

MultiChoice Group’s involvement is expected to establish 400 new job opportunities, in addition to 100 sports-coaching learnerships through SuperSport’s Let’s Play initiative – equating to an overall investment of ZAR50 million.

According to the group, ‘these young people will be employed in industries that include telecommunication, human resource management, engineering, satellite communication, coaching and ICT. In addition, the opportunity has been spread to youngsters across different provinces, including Eastern Cape, Free State, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and North West’. The Let’s Play initiative, meanwhile, engages children between the ages of eight and 14 through sporting activities and programmes, in an effort to encourage a healthier generation of young people.

The group adds that as at end-2019, around 60% of South Africa’s employable youth did not have jobs – a situation that has since been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

9 June 2020
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