Leading South African law firm Webber Wentzel has enabled Afrika Tikkun to extend its skills development programme called "Career Readiness" to the Alexandra community.

Speaking about the graduation ceremony of 71 students which took place today (20 August) at the Phutaditjaba Community Centre in Alexandra, Themba Mdlalose, CSI manager at Webber Wentzel, said: “The Afrika Tikkun Readiness Programme began in Johannesburg 18 months ago and is designed to give matriculants between the ages of 18 and 35 the confidence and skills they need to enter the job market and secure employment. We continue to support the programme in Gauteng because we believe that it is important to contribute to the communities within which we operate.”

South Africa has one of the lowest levels of entrepreneurship in the world with entrepreneurs contributing around 35% of GDP compared with 60% in countries like India and Brazil. According to statistics released in May 2014 by Statistics South Africa unemployment in South Africa has risen significantly over the past six years. The unemployment rate among youth aged 15 to 34 increased from 32.7% to 36.1% between 2008 and 2014.

Tracey Kotzen Afrika Tikkun’s training and development national programmes manager said:   “The high rate of unemployment can also be attributed to the fact that the majority of the youth lack basic skills for employment. This programme focuses on empowering the next generation of South Africans through tangible skills and ultimately to employment.”

This programme has so far empowered over 600 students in South Africa.

One of the graduates from the Career Readiness Programme, Busisiwe Buso, said, “Through this programme, I have learnt different skills such as how to start my own business, how to compile my own business plan and write my own curriculum vitae as well as what to expect in a job interview. It has been an eye opener for me and it is because of this programme that I now have a job as an administrator PA.”

“We are very grateful to Webber Wentzel for their continued support. It is as a result of their generous contribution that we have been able to roll out this programme," says Kotzen.

The next graduation is set to take place in Orange Farm on 12 September 2014.