{"id":1302,"date":"2025-11-18T03:59:55","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T03:59:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/?p=1302"},"modified":"2025-11-18T03:59:57","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T03:59:57","slug":"youth-call-for-jobs-as-matabeleland-south-hosts-mohadi-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/?p=1302","title":{"rendered":"Youth call for jobs as Matabeleland South hosts Mohadi tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by FHATU MULAUDZI<\/em>
BEITBRIDGE \u2013 THE high unemployment rate in Matabeleland South, a reflection of Zimbabwe\u2019s broader economic challenges, continues to push many young people into drug and substance abuse.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Vice-President Kembo Mohadi\u2019s recent sports initiative has brought temporary relief and renewed conversations around long-term youth empowerment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The colourful two-day tournament, held in Beitbridge, drew youths from across the province, including Beitbridge, Bulilima, Gwanda, Insiza, Mangwe, Matobo, and Umzingwane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many participants welcomed the platform for engagement, healthy competition, and social cohesion. Yet they also stressed that such initiatives, though valuable, fall short of addressing the root cause of youth vulnerability\u2014unemployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis initiative by our Deputy President Kembo Mohadi is plausible because it keeps the youths out of the streets,\u201d said Nomazulu Mpabanga from Gwanda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut my concern is that it is short-lived. It only takes place once a year. My question is: what happens during the other 365 days when youths remain without employment?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tournament, spearheaded by the ZANU-PF Matabeleland South leadership, attracted praise for uniting communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, many youths interviewed by Matabele Today expressed frustration that their economic ideas often go unheard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the same amount of money poured into sports tournaments was directed to organised youth clusters to start their own companies, it could be a huge gamechanger for Matabeleland South,\u201d said Mxolisi Tshabalala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Echoing this, Umzingwane youth Jeffrey Dlodlo argued that even modest funding could create meaningful impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf our leaders really care about us, just as little as US$50,000 could help more than 50 innovative youths organise themselves and start viable companies that create over 5,000 jobs. That would fight unemployment,\u201d Dlodlo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: \u201cImagine if these expensive cars being donated to artists by ZANU-PF tenderpreneurs were channelled to the projects we propose as youths\u2026\u2026..unemployment could have been zero nationwide. Unfortunately, our leaders do not listen to our grievances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ZANU-PF Matabeleland South provincial political commissar, Washington Nkomo, praised the gathering for \u201cbringing together participants from across the province\u201d and said it helped \u201camplify the anti-drug and substance abuse message, including sexual and reproductive health awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But many youths insisted job creation\u2014not tournaments, freebies, or donations\u2014remains their top priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnly if our leaders would just once listen to our grievances. The majority of youths in Matabeleland South would not engage in drug and alcohol abuse, let alone sexual immorality,\u201d said Melody Moyo from Bulilima.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With netball and football teams filling the Mabidi Stadium, the event was a success. However, a key question lingers: will the government move beyond once-off activities and invest in youth business clusters capable of creating sustainable employment?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by FHATU MULAUDZIBEITBRIDGE \u2013 THE high unemployment rate in Matabeleland South, a reflection of Zimbabwe\u2019s broader economic challenges, continues to push many young people into drug and substance abuse. However, Vice-President Kembo Mohadi\u2019s recent sports initiative has brought temporary relief and renewed conversations around long-term youth empowerment. The colourful two-day tournament, held in Beitbridge, drew […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,8,9,44,3,41,12],"tags":[214],"class_list":["post-1302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editors-pick","category-featured","category-hot-topics","category-latest-updates","category-local","category-news","category-politics-news","category-politics","tag-vice-president-kembo-mohadi"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Kembo-Mohadi-150x150.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Kembo-Mohadi-300x195.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Kembo-Mohadi.jpg","large":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Kembo-Mohadi.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Kembo-Mohadi.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Kembo-Mohadi.jpg","post-thumbnail":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Kembo-Mohadi.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"administrator","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a3d5ebfe727f13fb325bd400aaaf5e789d3e2e20898883d9ae8e3d3d42d58cef?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"by FHATU MULAUDZIBEITBRIDGE \u2013 THE high unemployment rate in Matabeleland South, a reflection of Zimbabwe\u2019s broader economic challenges, continues to push many young people into drug and substance abuse. However, Vice-President Kembo Mohadi\u2019s recent sports initiative has brought temporary relief and renewed conversations around long-term youth empowerment. The colourful two-day tournament, held in Beitbridge, drew […]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["Editor's Pick","Featured","Hot Topics","Latest Updates","Local","News","Politics","Politics"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":70,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":3,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Kembo-Mohadi.jpg",600,389,false],"medium":["https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Kembo-Mohadi-300x195.jpg",300,195,true],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Kembo-Mohadi-150x150.jpg",150,150,true]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"administrator","author_link":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/?author=2"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a3d5ebfe727f13fb325bd400aaaf5e789d3e2e20898883d9ae8e3d3d42d58cef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"Editor's Pick<\/a> Featured<\/a> Hot Topics<\/a> Latest Updates<\/a> Local<\/a> News<\/a> Politics<\/a> Politics<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1302"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1304,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1302\/revisions\/1304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}