Cleaning services business SweepSouth will create 350 more jobs via its new expansion to two cities in Mpumalanga, in a partnership with provincial government and youth employment agency Lulaway.
According to a statement issued on Monday, the jobs will be created in Nelspruit and Delmas.
SweepSouth links domestic workers to people seeking cleaning services via an app, in a similar way to e-hailing service Uber. The tech-based business has been operating in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Centurion and Durban.
Its expansion has come about through a workforce development collaboration with the local provincial government and Lulaway, according to the statement.
New tech jobs
Lulaway is mandated to drive expansion of internet-based services, like SweepSouth, to create new jobs.
"Over 350 unemployed SweepStars have been onboarded in just one week in these two new cities," the statement read.
More internet-based services are expected to start operations in the province.
"Up till now, homeowners in these towns had no access to SweepSouth services… These are brand new jobs, which would not exist if not for this development, and have been created in a short time frame," Jake Willis, CEO of Lulaway, said.
"The shared economy opens an untapped earning potential, allowing people to support their families with dignity."
New job creation model
Willis believes this model can be adopted by other regional governments to support job creation.
"We believe this is the start of a new job creation model, which can take off nationally. By simply providing funding to the right partners, we can transform our economy," he said.
SweepSouth co-founder Aisha Pandor said Lulaway's job centres in Mpumalanga contributed to the decision to expand services to the province.
"Lulaway has a large infrastructure of job centres which we can leverage. This infrastructure is funded by the local government’s investment in job creation," she said.
SweepSouth conducted its own survey of more than 500 domestic workers, which showed 84% of domestic workers are sole breadwinners and 70% are single mothers supporting, on average, three dependents.
"We are proud to have provided employment opportunities for thousands of people, many of whom are single mothers. To be able to bring these opportunities to a new region in South Africa is both rewarding and exciting," Pandor said.
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