Media Release: Seventeen (17) youth from the Garden Route to gain workplace experience through the BIG Hearts initiative

For immediate release
25 July 2024

On Monday, 22 July 2024, a second group of eight young people from the Garden Route district participated in an induction session as part of the YES initiative. The previous group attended their Induction session on 18 July 2024. The YES Initiative in collaboration with the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), offers participants the chance to gain skills through a twelve-month workplace experience program.

The induction sessions were conducted by BIG Hearts and this will prepare participants to understand the objective of the programme before being placed at various municipalities, including Knysna, Mossel Bay and Ladismith municipalities.

The contract signing session took place at the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM), a stakeholder of this initiative. During the session, the representative from BIG Hearts, Christine van Niekerk, conducted the induction to help participants understand the process, expectations, and details of their contracts.

Witnessing the occasion were GRDM’s Portfolio Chairperson for Property Development and Management, Cllr Hilton Stroebel, within the Integrated Planning and Economic Development Department, as well as the GRDM Manager responsible for Expanded Public Works Programme, Richard Dyantyi, as well as officials from GRDM and Oudtshoorn Municipality.

Cllr Stroebel encouraged the participants in his motivational speech, urging them to seize this opportunity for personal growth and envision a bright future. He concluded by emphasising that this initiative should inspire hope in others who may feel there is no way forward. Stroebel also thanked BIG Hearts for partnering with the municipality, highlighting the importance of such collaborations in providing hope to the youth.

Now all participants are looking forward to being placed in various departments within GRDM and the remaining participants will be assigned to local municipalities in the district, focusing on waste management.

Their monthly remuneration will be funded by the public sector, while GRDM committed to cover the administration costs of all contracts which will officially commence on 1 August 2024.

Feature Image: The second group of participants from across the district with representatives of GRDM’s EPWP Unit,  BIG Hearts and Oudtshoorn Municipality after the signing of their contracts at the Induction Session.

ENDS