Anglo American Zimele’s sectorial approach to youth development is set to receive a major boost with a possible employment of up to 250 students at a luxury cruise line in June.

This follows the announcement of a collaboration between Zimele’s implementation partner in the programme, Summit and Silversea Cruises, the world's premium ultra-luxury cruise line, to provide employment opportunities for youth trained in the Anglo American Zimele hospitality and tourism programme.

The collaboration will see Silversea Cruises employing between 180 and 250 youth from Anglo American’s host communities in various hospitality roles onboard its cruise ships. 

These recruits are all part of Anglo American Zimele’s youth development programme which was established to upskill host communities where Anglo American has mining operations in South Africa in careers which are high in demand. They have all completed training with Summit in one of the following accredited hospitality qualifications; assistant chef, housekeeping, and food and beverage management. 

The partnership between Zimele and Summit is part of Zimele’s sectorial approach to youth development, which is designed to create sustainable employment opportunities for young people who face significant barriers to entry into the workplace.

Through this programme, Anglo American Zimele seeks to improve the livelihoods of young South Africans by providing them with relevant skills to enable them to secure employment opportunities in the tourism, hospitality and retail sectors; recruitment and placement support into national and global companies and ongoing coaching and mentorship.

The collaboration with Silversea will provide comprehensive training specific to the cruise line to selected candidates to ensure they are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to work onboard its luxury cruise ships.

Larisha Naidoo, head of Anglo American Zimele said: “This is a great milestone for the programme and for youth development in our host communities. Youth unemployment remains one of the major challenges that South Africa is facing and this partnership is one of the ways in which we are making a contribution towards reducing unemployment and poverty in the areas where we operate through impactful skilling.”

“We are excited to partner with Anglo American Zimele &  Silversea Cruises on this important skills development programme,” said Matthew Lambert, Managing Director of Summit. “The initiative will provide much-needed employment opportunities for young graduates. Our purpose is to educate, empower and employ our learners and we grateful for Silversea’s commitment to this shared purpose.”

“We are pleased with this collaboration to offer employment opportunities to unemployed youth in South Africa,” said Marin Drlje, Talent Acquisition Manager of Silversea Cruises. “As a business, we recognize our responsibility to make a positive impact on the countries in which we operate. We believe that by offering training and employment opportunities, we can help young people build a brighter future for themselves and their families.”

The collaboration aligns with Silversea's commitment to support local communities and promote sustainable tourism practices. By providing employment opportunities to young people, the initiative aims to contribute to economic growth in the communities the recruits come from and reduce unemployment.

This represents an innovative approach to address high unemployment rate among the young population in South Africa. The programme also aims to provide a model for other businesses in the tourism industry to follow in creating sustainable employment opportunities and promoting social inclusion.

In total, 1 316 beneficiaries have completed training as Assistant Chefs, Table Attendants and Assistant Housekeepers, which is offered as part of the Hospitality & Tourism Programme rolled out at various host community sites for Platinum and Kumba Iron Ore in 2022. Zimele is targeting to recruit and train a further 2 970 youths in the next four years. 

The students receive strong support, including a travel allowance to attend the contact sessions, mobile gadgets to undertake training sessions virtually and work-integrated learning for them to get practical experience on the vocations they are being trained on.

Opportunities for large placement of learners outside of host communities continue to be explored with a total of 789 learners from this programme already placed in employment.