Workers collection point at your service

GEORGE NEWS - During his visit to the Workers Collection Point (WCP) on Tuesday, Mayor Leon van Wyk pleaded with employers in George and with people looking for employment to fully utilise this facility that was established for private individuals and businesses.

The WCP serves as a central point where those who wish to employ temporary workers and those who are looking for employment can meet up.

The municipality wants to emphasise that the Workers Collection Point, which is situated on Industrial Street, George Industria, is the only authorised place for job seekers to be picked up. The WCP is staffed by officials of the George Municipality's Economic Development Department.

What makes the WCP reliable and safe for both job seekers and employers is that it is run professionally. Job seekers are registered and their personal information is captured (names, identification documents and address), as are details of the employers, to ensure adequate management of the whole process.

Van Wyk visited the centre to ascertain its functionality after it has been closed temporarily last year. The municipality was unfortunately compelled to temporarily close the WCP in August 2022 due to ongoing safety challenges and concern for the well-being of the staff.

Following a risk assessment that was conducted and addressed at the facility, the WCP's services resumed in February this year. However, the municipality noticed that there has been a low number of both job seekers and especially employers.

Ongezwe Mthongwana (Local Economic Development official), Mayor Leon van Wyk, Portfolio Councillor Dirk Wessels (Financial & Strategic Services), Dr Kosie Haarhoff (Deputy Director for Strategic Growth and Development and Kelvin Abrahams (Local Economic Development official).

Re-launch and profiling

"We are busy re-launching the whole WCP programme, so in other words, we've got workers who come to this point and are looking for work," said Van Wyk.

"They may well be painters; they may well be in the construction industry; they could be drivers; they could be general workers. We appeal to employers not to look around for workers, but to come to the Workers Collection Point. It's fully operational, and professionally run. Companies and businesses who are looking for workers that they might need on a temporary basis can come and collect them."

Van Wyk said they are also building a profile (a short CV of each of the workers) that they hope to include on the municipal app. In addition, they try to get a check on how everybody has worked at the end of the day so that they can start building a more permanent career for these people.

"So, we would love our citizens and our businesses and our companies to join us and participate in this scheme so that we can make sure that our citizens have work."

In the more than five years that George Municipality has run the facility, it has proved to be a huge success. In the past, many of the job seekers have secured longer-term work (eg, two-week contracts) and several permanent positions have also materialised. The demand for skilled labour (such as bricklayers and carpenters) often outweighed the supply of these skills at the facility.

• The WCP is situated at 12 Industrial Street, George Industrial and operates between 07:45 and 15:00, Monday to Friday. It is staffed by the following two officials from the Planning and Development Department: Kevin Abrahams, email: kabrahams@george.gov.za; and Ongeziwe Mthongwana, email: omthongwana@george.gov.za. For enquiries, please phone the office on 044 801 9173.

Mayor Leon van Wyk meets job seekers at the Workers’ Collection Point during his visit.