As Cape Town gears up for what is anticipated to be one of the busiest tourist seasons in recent years, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator has partnered with one of the city's biggest attractions, the V&A Waterfront, to boost youth employment opportunities within the tourism sector.
Over the past 18 months, this partnership has successfully placed over 600 young people in 53 businesses within the shopping and leisure complex. Key employers include Pick ’n Pay, First Rand, H&M, and Life and Brand Portfolio, which runs several restaurants.
Brett Wilks, Project Lead at Harambee, emphasises the sector's inclusivity: "Tourism is the magic rising tide that lifts all boats and acts as a catalyst for widespread economic growth. As a tourist attraction, the V&A Waterfront draws a diverse clientele, which presents a unique opportunity to employ young people across various career paths, regardless of their prior experience or skills."
According to data from Wesgro, the trade and investment promotion agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape, more than 605 000 foreign visitors injected R24.3 billion (€1.2bn) into the provincial economy last year, supporting 10 600 jobs.
These numbers are expected to be substantially higher in 2023 as international arrivals have already exceeded pre-pandemic levels within the first six months of the year.
Time Out Market, a recent addition to the V&A’s tenants, exemplifies this initiative's impact, employing 23 previously unemployed young people. SA Youth, a zero-cost digital platform connecting work-seekers to employers, filled these positions. Over four million young work-seekers are registered on the platform, along with almost 1 000 employer partner organisations.
Besides job placement, candidates at the Time Out Market underwent an intensive work readiness programme through a collaboration between Solve@Waterfront, Harambee, and Passion4Performance. This programme is designed to impart essential soft skills necessary for the hospitality industry.
Richard Jooste, Operations Manager at Time Out Market, says he’s been impressed with the candidates sourced through SA Youth: “We've already requested an additional 20 young people because of how well the previous group went. Our objective is to train these new recruits to develop a skilled talent pool, readily available for deployment at any moment.”
Wilks further states: "Through our partnership with the V&A Waterfront we aim to create 1 000 jobs and collaborate with 100 V&A tenants, using this premier tourism destination as a springboard for job growth."
This partnership aims to create approximately 50 000 opportunities over the next decade. Harambee also plans on collaborating with other tourist assets across Cape Town as part of its commitment to fostering more inclusive youth accessibility to economic opportunities.
