ARTISAN DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME LAUNCH

A social compact to rebuild the district’s economy and address unemployment issues was initiated by Chris Hani District Municipality in collaboration with aforementioned stakeholders. Today, CHDA – Buffalo City College, Buffalo City Development Agency and Ikhala TVET College, signed their collaboration framework for Artisan Development, Placement, Artisan Recognition of Prior Learning and Workshop Accreditation.

CHDM Executive Mayor, Cllr Lusanda Sizani said “empowering young people, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, with artisan skills is key to transforming the district’s socio-economic landscape. It is a fact that many young people face financial hardship, limited education, high unemployment rate, and so technical and vocational training offers a practical pathway into the workforce.”

Such development programme is not only confined on building trades; it’s about building a resilient and inclusive economy. The programme is one of the essential stepping stones toward fulfilling South Africa’s artisan targets and supporting infrastructure, industries, and communities. This initiative is part of an already started Labour Activation Programme through Food Aggregation with a total of 3600 beneficiaries divided into 710 Artisans; 1600 Skills Programme and 1630 for Learnerships.