Ninety Eastern Cape youths who have completed the Maritime Youth Development Programme will soon be place on international cruise liners across the world.
Eastern Cape Premier Phumulo Masualle, supported by the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), will host an official send-off in Port St Johns next Wednesday for the newly graduates youths, who hail from Alfred Nzo and O.R. Tambo District Municipalities, and Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality.
Out of 130 youths that were trained, 90 have qualified to be placed in the international cruise liners.
Bhisho government spokesperson, Sonwabo Mbananga, said "these young people have been trained in, inter alia, first aid, crowd management, personal safety, swimming, and basic competence for being sea men and "sea women".
"By placing them, the Programme seeks to empower young people to become involved in the hospitality industry and steer the Province towards being a leader in the ocean economy as it is better placed to become a leading ocean economy in the country," he said.
Mbananga said that the Eastern Cape has the longest coastline in the country with ever improving port infrastructure aimed at boosting the National and Provincial GDP.
He said a Youth Employment Accord was signed in 2013 which committed the Maritime Youth Development programme to improve education and training opportunities for the gap grouping between school leaving and first employment, and to connect young people with employment opportunities.
Mbananga said Premier Masualle convened a two-day Youth Development Summit in Port Elizabeth in 2015 with the Summit resolutions giving birth to the establishment of a Youth Unit in the Office of the Premier and the Provincial Youth Development Policy and Strategy now being implemented.
