* Western Cape Social Development MEC Albert Fritz launched the province’s fifth Youth Café in Vrygrond on Monday May 30. The Youth Café offers high-speed internet access to make it easier for the community to search for jobs and for entrepreneurs to search for further opportunities. The Sozo Youth Café is the culmination of the partnership between the Western Cape Department of Social Development and NGO partners, the Sozo Foundation. The Sozo Youth Café will offer youth of Vrygrond a six-months programme, which includes a month of lifeskills, mentoring, heartlife courses and skills training sessions; four-months of skills training in four streams, the barista and catering stream, technical skills stream, digital stream, and entrepreneurial stream; and one-month of job readiness and exit preparation in which participants will be assisted with CV writing, job shadowing, interview skills, and ongoing one-on-one mentoring. Other Youth Cafés can be found in Mitchell’s Plain, Athlone, George, and Oudtshoorn where youth must firstly register to participate in activities that earn the Youth Café virtual currency, called “Zlato”. The currency can then be used to access services, training sessions and, of course, coffee and lunch from the café. Pictured here, from left, are the Department of Social Development’s Mzwandile Hewu, ACDP Member of Parliament Steve Swart, Louise Swart, MEC Albert Fritz, founder and Sozo CEO Anton Cuyler, co-founder of Sozo Elana Cuyler and Sozo volunteer, Steve Morris.