Speech by the Executive Mayor of Cape Town, Alderman
Patricia de Lille, on the occasion of the launch of the
Mayoral Apprenticeship Programme on 12 December
2011
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good day, goeiedag, molweni.
The City of Cape Town is committed to creating opportunities.
We are also committed to being leaders in service delivery.
The Apprentice programme allows us to combine these two goals and
serve the individual while at the same time serving the city.
We are all aware that there are service delivery and infrastructure
backlogs in the city.
This is not just a Cape Town problem; it is a South African problem.
Though this administration, and our predecessor, has taken steps to
address infrastructure shortfalls, problems still remain.
We can allocate only so many resources to a problem before we have to
expand our diagnosis and assess what other barriers preventing delivery
remain.
In the South African context, it amounts to a severe shortage of skills.
Many people do not realise just what it takes to run a city.
It requires an overall policy objective, to be sure.
But it then requires skilled technicians and engineers to carry out those
policies and translate them into services that actually work for people.
This skills shortage has hit local government particularly hard.
Many of the people who have the knowledge to keep the water flowing or
the lights on are retiring.
Until now, there was no real critical mass of new people with the requisite
expertise to replace them.
We have arrested this decline in Cape Town.
We have invested time and resources into an apprentice programme, with
other educational partners that has its primary home in the electricity
department.
This has allowed for an increase of opportunities in the City.
In especially harsh economic times, the City has been fulfilling its
mandate as a leader of economic and social development.
The apprentice programme provides direct job opportunities for people in
the City.
It also provides successful graduates with skills that are highly desirable
in the market place, should they choose to pursue other avenues of
employment.
Today we acknowledge you, the 110 people who have successfully
completed the apprentice programme.
You know become fully skilled artisans with jobs in the City.
You will help us continue with our mission to build a better city and
continue to be leaders in service delivery.
I urge you all to use the opportunity provided to you to generate
opportunities for others.
To the 90 apprentices starting with us, I urge you to look to your
colleagues who become artisans today.
After you have completed your training, you will join their ranks and
become qualified artisans in your own right.
The City of Cape Town is leading in creating opportunities for apprentices,
fulfilling an electoral pledge this administration made to increase the
skills-set in the city and increase opportunities for individuals.
To the artisans, I say congratulations and to the new apprentices, I say
good luck and to both I say welcome to our extended family.