Video: Old magistrates court turns into a youth empowerment hub
“As the metro, we took a decision three years ago to annually set aside R12-billion for the youth, and the statistics we have been receiving in the council suggests we have done extremely well in terms of empowering young people,” - Mayor Mzwandile Masina,
The Youth Empowerment Centre in Boksburg has officially been opened at the historical Old Magistrate’s Court on June 5, making it the first of its kind in Ekurhuleni to cater for young people.
The building, situated on Church Street, dates back to 1889. It was left unattended for many years because of a lack of funding. This resulted in criminals stripping it off, and making off with everything from the roof and doors to the windows.
In October 2017, the Ekurhuleni metro hired a contractor to revamp the building.
The centre will be used to house the Ekurhuleni Youth Directorate (EYD) and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), which for the first time will have a fully operational service branch in Ekurhuleni.
The EYD will, through the metro’s departments, provide the youth in Ekurhuleni access to bursaries offered by the metro, internships and placement programmes, soft skill development programmes, incubation programmes, business facilitation programmes, access to business hubs and centres and referrals to private sector stakeholders.
The NYDA will offer the youth below the age of 35 a business grant funding, enterprise and business training, financial and non-financial support for small to medium youth enterprises, bursaries and job opportunities.
Advocate Modise Koetle, the divisional head of the youth directorate in the office of the executive mayor, said: “The building is split into two where the one area will be for the Ekurhuleni directorate and the other for the NYDA.
“There is also a shared space for young people to have product offerings in business facilitation, grant funding, bursaries and skills development.
“Our training centre will offer beneficiaries (entrepreneurs) of grants training and facilitation in their business ventures,” Koetle said.
Koetle said at a later stage, the centre will house other external funding institutions, and will serve as a one-stop empowerment centre for young people.
Joy Maimela from NYDA said the partnership with the metro couldn’t have come at a better time.
“We recently heard from Stats SA that the gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 3.2 per cent so as young people you need to start thinking of alternative ways of generating income for yourselves. This partnership will bring hope to young people so that they can flourish.
“We will work on your ideas and will give out grant funds so that your business ideas can live, so that you can generate income for yourself, your family and also to create employment for others,”said Maimela.
Maimela said the centre will house NSFSAS to enable the young people to visit the facility and apply for bursaries.
Speaking to young people at the centre, the mayor, Mzwandile Masina, challenged every young person to do a self-introspection on what to do to improve themselves and their families.
“This centre and all the support mechanism must be appreciated and utilised by every young person in Ekurhuleni.
“We have entered into a partnership with the National Empowerment Fund that have set aside about R100-million for development so that all the ideas young people have we will support and fund.
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