The municipality has 76 jobs on offer – mostly for locals.
This emerged in a discussion about job-creation as part of an intergovernmental relations forum meeting recently.
Facing frequent criticism for apparently failing to address unemployment in Grahamstown, as well as for the perception that it tends to recruit people from outside Makana, the municipality said working with other government departments was the key to alleviating unemployment in the region. The mechanism for this cross-departmental co-operation was the through its intergovernmental relations (IGR) forum.
The municipality has 76 jobs on offer – mostly for locals.
This emerged in a discussion about job-creation as part of an intergovernmental relations forum meeting recently.
Facing frequent criticism for apparently failing to address unemployment in Grahamstown, as well as for the perception that it tends to recruit people from outside Makana, the municipality said working with other government departments was the key to alleviating unemployment in the region. The mechanism for this cross-departmental co-operation was the through its intergovernmental relations (IGR) forum.
Unemployment had been repeatedly raised at imbizos and door-to-door visits, said Municipal Manager Ntombi Baart at the meeting on Thursday, and the municipality has decided to use the forum as a tool to address it.
"As per Council's resolution, I have written to government departments based within Makana's jurisdiction to inform us of any vacancies and give preference to locals," Baart said, emphasising that the municipality was not the only government structure that could employ local people.
Director of Corporate Services, Thabiso Klaas, said, "It is a perception that the municipality, as a sphere of local government [close to the community], is responsible for job creation.
Reporting on Makana Municipality's job vacancies, Klaas said during the current financial year, 76 posts had to be filled. He said 30% of these vacancies, which related to quarter one, had been advertised.
"We are about to commence interviews," Klaas said.
He then addressed the perception that the municipality gave preference to outsiders.
"The majority of the people we employ are local people, as the nature of the work needs that," Klaas said. The challenge was, however, that there was a dearth of certain specialised skills locally. For example, he said, it had been difficult to employ locals in certain positions in engineering services, IT and town planning.
Klaas said the municipality had a financial management grant, used to recruit local candidates.
"We have in the region of eight internships," he said.
Zolile Makile, from the South African Social Security Agency, explained that he managed the agency's affairs in the municipalities of Makana and Ndlambe. He said that across the province there were 132 vacant posts – but these were open only to existing staff members and were advertised internally.
Makile said vacancies for senior posts were advertised internally. It was usually only junior positions that were advertised externally.
"The only hope we have is that when the level five and six apply for these higher posts, then the ones below will open up for external applicants."
Currently, he said, only two people in the Makana agency office were not from Grahamstown.
Councillor Julia Wells said a vacancies database needed to be created to "keep the information flowing", considering the intergovernmental relations forum met only four times a year.
Councillor Pierre Ranchhod agreed, saying, "Charity starts at home. We need to empower the children of Makana." Ranchhod suggested that all government noticeboards be used to keep residents aware of vacancies.
