Hundreds of young people lined up at a Sasol gas station in Gqeberha, South Africa to submit their resumes for a handful of available positions totalling 8.
When the manager of the Sasol gas station on Commercial Road posted an advertisement on Facebook to fill a few vacancies at the station, she did not anticipate the overwhelming response, this is according to Scrolla Africa.
Hundreds of young people from around Nelson Mandela Bay flocked to the gas station to submit their resumes, but there were only eight positions available.
“I did not anticipate such a large attendance. Shanaaz Naidoo, a manager, explains, “I understand that unemployment is a major problem in our country, but that was shocking to me.”
This, according to Naidoo, helped her comprehend the reality of unemployment in the country.
The positions required no prior experience, as the station intended to train the successful applicants.
“I believe the requirement for “no experience” in the [advertisement] is what attracted such a large number of applicants. Naidoo adds that it is unfortunate that we were unable to hire more people.
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The Eastern Cape city of Nelson Mandela Bay has a staggering unemployment rate of 35.7%, according to the most recent data from Statistics South Africa.
This means that at least 640,000 metropolitan residents live on less than R1,077 per month. And those between the ages of 15 and 24 bear the brunt of the burden.
