​Qaqambile Mdledle
Premier David Makhura, together with the MEC for Finance and e- Government, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko have awarded the young top five achievers in each Gauteng region who excelled in the Huawei-Gauteng eGovernment 4IR Talent Development programme The ICT Upskilling Programme started in September 2020 with an initial 500 young people across Gauteng   receiving training in a range of ICT skills which include the introduction to 5G, Internet protocol, Cloud Services and Big Data Analytics.
During the award ceremony, this morning at the Johannesburg Theatre, Premier Makhura thanked Huawei for their invaluable partnership with the Gauteng Department of e-Government.
"Huawei is leading the global transition to 5G and helping us to get the youth of Gauteng to be at the cutting edge of new digital technologies. We are very grateful that you have partnered with us. We need more young people to be trained in the next coming five years," he said.
He said Gauteng City Region aimed to build a dynamic digital economy that offers employment to the youth and opportunities to entrepreneurs.
"We are not only training young people in digital skills, but we are also assisting them to access jobs and to build new digital start-ups as tech-entrepreneurs. We are doing this under the umbrella of the Tshepo 1 Million Youth Development Flagship Programme," he added.
Osbone Makola from Tsakane in Ekurhuleni was the provincial top achiever. He encourages other young people to take space and be part of the change in their communities.
"As young people, we have taken a commitment today, that we are going to make sure that we positively change to our communities. We are a generation that is not just going to say data must fall, but we should ask ourselves what must rise," he said.
Lebohang Mathembula from Mofolo in Soweto was the Johannesburg top achiever. She said she was very proud of herself and hoping to achieve more in ICT.
"We thank our government for giving us this platform, now I can be a better person and be able to be innovative and give others an opportunity to grow in my township".