Over two hundred unemployed young people from Soweto marched to the Joburg mayor's office to drop off their CVs today. This follows a proposal by mayor Dada Morero at the ANC Gauteng Lekgotla that law enforcement needs to hire foreign nationals as members of the Johannesburg Metro police department.

DEMANDING JOBS

The frustrated young people dismissed claims that they are xenophobic but want to remind the mayor and the rest of the government that there are thousands of unemployed people in case they forgot. With their CVs in hand, they eagerly filled the streets of Braamfontein and hopefully placed their documents into three very large boxes just outside the mayor's office. Although Mayor Morero couldn't personally receive the CVs, his chief of staff, Tsumbo Nephawe, acted on his behalf.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE TOO HIGH 

Speaking on behalf of the youth, Kim Baloyi said they had hoped to see the mayor, as he had sent communication that he would attend to them. "Unemployment is at its utmost high and poverty is at its peak and some of us are breadwinners. That's why we are here today; so many people in this crowd are graduates, and their qualifications have started to collect dust. It's painful to watch, and what I've discovered today is that we have a lot of attorneys in this crowd." Among the marchers, a young man who identified himself as Mncedisi said he didn't have much to say but is begging for the government to give them jobs. "I won't say much, but all I want to say is that we need jobs and for the government to consider us and put us first. His mother said she is concerned about her children not getting jobs. "I worked hard as a volunteer at a school cleaning the premises and never got paid. Not so long ago, I worked as an EPWP member and only earned R800 a month as a mother. How was I supposed to raise my children with that money? I hope our children get jobs because I worked hard to make sure that they finish school so that they can have a better future." Morero apologised for his proposal and briefed the media after the march, saying that there are no jobs. "We don't have posts at JMPD and have no intention of advertising any, but of course there will be misinterpretation from communities and we understand," he said.