South Africa has an average unemployment rate of 40%. In some regions that figure can reach even 60% or more. You can just imagine the pressure that puts on the job market.
People here talk about The Struggle when discussing the apartheid era; well, when The Struggle was over, South Africa became a freer country for many but still suffered massive problems inherited from the old regime. Non-white people had been deprived of good education and housing. Land had been forcefully taken, people were deported often to very isolated areas, fathers did not see their families for long periods; the list goes on and on. Nowadays there is a huge challenge to create balance again for people who lost so much during the apartheid regime. So the government embarked on a gigantic education and building effort, but it will take many years to find to a reasonable equilibrium again.
Anyway, over the last few weeks I have been trying to find an assistant for our work here, and so have had the privilege of finding out for myself how the job market is functioning. Numerous applications came in and some of them told of a real sense of urgency felt by the job seeker, explaining how hard it was to find a job with decent pay.
Today I can introduce to you Kgomotso Moate, born on March 25, 1986 at Ga-Rankuwa near Brits. Kgomotso studies Marketing Management at the University of Pretoria and works for me part-time. I quickly saw at the job interview that she’s fun, smart and entrepreneurial with an independent spirit.
Kgomotso Moate
Even so, I was very impressed on her first day when she made fast work of putting her own flat-pack desk together. Now that takes initiative!