Sowing Seeds for Sustainability
Linked on our blogs with South African Trade Unions COSATU, and with the Federation of Unions of South Africa FEDUSA.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions COSATU, The National Council of Trade Unions NACTU, and the Federation of Unions of South Africa FEDUSA founded the Job Creation Trust (Trust number IT 1791/99) at the Presidential Job Summit of 1998.
Asking workers to donate a day’s wages and companies to contribute one day’s profit, it was an initiative by organised labour to contribute and fight against unemployment in South Africa. At over 40%, unemployment exacerbates poverty and contributes to other social ills such as crime, disease and underdevelopment of communities … (Homepage 1/2).
Board and staff; Funding; Report; Gallery; Language programme;
Address: Job Creation Trust, PO Box 32130, Braamfontein, 2017, South Africa;
Contact.
Homepage 2/2: … In 2000 the Trust entered into an agreement with the Development Bank SA to provide expertise in the project management and secretarial services.
Included in the package was the establishment of a database into which applications would be recorded and ultimately rated for consideration using the following criteria:
- Involvement of the community to ensure that all is empowered
- Improvement of social and public productive infrastructure to assist in reducing some of the backlogs left by apartheid
- To be labour-intensive.
- A regional bias towards provinces with the greatest poverty and highest unemployment Target beneficiaries and focus areas include women, youth and HIV/AIDS awareness.
The Trust solicited applications for projects by advertising in the print and electronic media in 2000. About 3 400 applications were received amounting to R4-billion. To date over R53-million has been committed; R41-million disbursed and an estimated 36 000 job opportunities created.
It is now ten years of JCT and some lessons learnt worth mentioning include the fact that strong local leadership is necessary to keep communities mobilised and united. The long, tortuous process of setting up the fund and the sacrifices workers underwent were worth it.
No matter which project one visits that is funded by the JCT, one feels humbled. At the same time the Trust takes take pride to see that where there was once despair, one sees hope and human dignity restored.