A learnership to empower youth

Country Bird Holdings, in partnership with government, is a participant in the Yes4Youth programme, which is aimed at giving young South Africans practical experience in the workplace. Theunis Eloff explained to Melinda Shaw how CBH works with Amphi SA to mentor trainees.

- Melinda Shaw

HOW DID COUNTRY BIRD HOLDINGS (CBH) BECOME INVOLVED WITH YES4YOUTH, AND WHAT ARE THE COMPANY’S AIMS WITH THE PROGRAMME?

Youth unemployment is at dire levels, particularly in the rural areas where we operate, and it therefore makes sense for us to participate. The idea is to provide young people with the opportunity to get 12 months of workplace experience to make them more employable. Apart from that, we get to know potential new employees around our facilities, so everyone wins.

WHAT ARE YOUR CRITERIA FOR SELECTING CANDIDATES FOR THE LEARNERSHIPS?

We receive loads of applications every year, which shows how big the need is. Participants are selected from the communities surrounding our plants, depending on how many students the plant can accommodate. The programme is coordinated on our behalf by Amphi SA, a registered training provider, and we host it at all the Supreme Poultry production and processing sites across North West and the Free State.

We look for young people between 18 and 35 with matric, to ensure that they qualify for the additional learnership. We enrol them during their 12 months with us, which provides them with a South African Qualifications Authority-accredited qualification in addition to the work experience.