Mayor Patricia De Lille launched a project that will allow job-seekers travel for free, twice a week, On Tuesday in a bid to curb unemployment in the city.

De Lille’s government will subsidise these trips by paying R6,6 million for MyCiTi trips between Mitchells Plain and the Civic Centre. De Lille said this will pay for 100 000 myconnect cards, which will be handed out to registered job seekers. These should provide two free journeys every week.

“Unemployment in South Africa is a huge challenge, and Cape Town is not immune to this problem. We may have the lowest unemployment rate in the country, at 19%, but that is still too high,” said De Lille in a speech.

De Lille said that the city recognises it’s role in assisting people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“As this caring city, we recognise our role in ensuring that disadvantaged residents have opportunities and are not pushed further into poverty,” she said.

The plan was first revealed in May during the tabling of the city’s draft budget. De Lille said that the initiative aims to take away the obstacle of travel costs.

“Many people are giving up looking for work, because travel costs are a barrier. We want to implement this initiative to take away that obstacle of travel costs, which sometimes prevents people from being able to access job opportunities,” said De Lille at the time.

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