AgriSETA’s Connect ME – a ‘saving grace for unemployed youth’

AgriSETA’s Connect ME – a ‘saving grace for unemployed youth’

By Nicole Ludolph

For Olwethu Zagana from Phillipi on the Cape Flats being unemployed has been anything but easy. The little money she has goes to job-seeking, only to get disappointing news time after time. This time around, she is pinning her hopes on Connect ME, the AgriSETA mobile app that matches unemployed youth with potential employers nationwide.

“One of the challenges of job seeking is using each and every last cent to go job hunting with high hopes that you’ll get a job, only to get disappointing news,” she explains. “Do you know how heart-breaking and saddening it is to receive a ‘we regret to inform you’ email from these companies, rejecting you left right and center?”

Zagana is not alone. The unemployment rate in South Africa is on an upward trajectory, with young people now accounting for over 60% of all unemployed people in the country. In fact, Statistics South Africa warns in its latest labor force survey that more than 34% of Mzansi’s youth find themselves without work.

To help ease the frustrations of people like Zagana, AgriSETA launched Connect ME, an app that is increasingly becoming an unexpected lifeline for many. It matches them with employers in a sector that most do not even think about despite agriculture being the saving grace of the economy.

Dennis Coetzee, NWK group executive for human capital, says the Connect ME app has high potential. As a leading employer in North West, he encourages desperate youth that he comes across to take a few moments to download the application; a minute or two that could turn out to shape their future.

Connect ME, adds Coetzee, is a “great initiative” by AgriSETA, an organisation set on creating and promoting opportunities for social, economic and employment growth for agri-enterprises through relevant, quality and accessible education, training and development in both primary and secondary agriculture. This is done in conjunction with other stakeholders in agriculture.

AgriSETA’s Connect ME app links those with newly acquired skills and graduates with employers, starting with the thousands of beneficiaries who have AgriSETA learnerships. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

“I’m really excited to see how Connect ME can assist us in sourcing good talent,” says Coetzee, adding that the app is set to become one of the strategic tools in the NWK recruitment arsenal. “We are always looking to see how we can find potential employees that really want to work at an agriculture company. This is added value from AgriSETA to their stakeholders.”

Meanwhile, Junaid Daniels from Mitchells Plain is also hopeful that he could find meaningful employment in the agriculture sector via Connect ME. Over the past two years the sector has been one of the very few stars in the firmament of the Mzansi economy. 

Daniels understands all too well that there are many reasons for the high rate of unemployment among youth, including a high dropout rate at both universities and high schools.

He says, “Other people are qualified but it’s very difficult to find work outside of the area because traveling is expensive. There are just a few opportunities in general but being in this township is another barrier to accessing work because traveling is difficult. Having your own car is expensive. There are just too many barriers.”

AgriSETA Connect ME eliminates barriers

Zagana adds that companies often require people with a lot of experience. In this regard, the Connect ME app is also said to be a life-saver because it automatically matches candidates with the right employer – often those that understand that young people do not necessarily come with a wealth of experience.

“It is already hard to keep a job in South Africa due to the inflation rates and the economy not doing well,” says Zagana. “People were retrenched during the Covid-19 pandemic that lasted for two years –, now imagine being asked for four or five years’ experience with such situations in our country.”

According to Coetzee, job hunting becomes a little bit easier with Connect ME. Users who register on the app simply upload their Curriculum Vitae and are then added to the “graduates” database.

Employers, or stakeholders who find themselves looking for workers with certain skills can access this database, potentially finding their perfect match. Coetzee says that despite sky-high unemployment rates, finding the right people is often challenging. This app, he says, may be just what people need to ease the process.

“To really find talent that has a passion for the agriculture industry, that understands our unique challenges, and that has knowledge of our subdisciplines, is an adventure on its own. This will close the search gap [and] enhance our candidate sourcing actions. It will assist us in achieving our prime goal: to source talent.”

Not only does the Connect ME help match job seekers to employers, it also gives users access to career guidance advice in the form of booklets and podcasts.

Dr Innocent Sirovha, CEO of AgriSETA. Photo: Magnificent Mndebele/Food For Mzansi

When asked if he thinks Connect ME has the potential to change employment rates in the sector, AgriSETA chief executive Dr Innocent Sirovha’s enthusiasm shines through with just one word: “Absolutely!”

“We are hoping to change the lives of our people through the Connect ME app,” says Sirovha. “It will certainly help to fast-track recruitment of young graduates, fill a gap for unemployed people in the agricultural sector, and especially for those who hope to be employed after obtaining newly acquired skills – no matter their age, because as a SETA, we serve to encourage lifelong learning.”

Sirovha says the Connect ME app aids their objectives to contribute to the goals of the National Development Plan to create one million decent jobs by 2030. It also serves to demonstrate the success of the organisation’s work, by linking newly acquired skills and graduates with employers, starting with the thousands of beneficiaries who has AgriSETA learnerships.

“Connect ME accommodates new ways of helping graduates and the entire agricultural labour force to find work by having direct access to (registered) industry employers. Similarly, it gives employers access to skilled and qualified job seekers in the agriculture sector,” he says.

• If you’re using an Android device, click here to download the Connect ME app from Google Play. Those with Apple devices can click here to download it from the App Store.