SCORES of job seekers thronged the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development offices in Bulawayo on Thursday in response to a casual work recruitment notice, which almost turned chaotic in the morning.
The vacancy notice was posted on social media on Tuesday, and indicated that interested job seekers must only bring their national identification documents.
However those who turned at the Khami Road ministry offices where only 25 casual workers were needed, were told that only those with waiting list cards from Vundu office will go through the screening process.
This did not go down well with the crowd, which protested the move and queried the sudden change in requirements.
“The advert was very clear that one only needed to bring his identification documents, they never mentioned that we must also carry with us these Vundu cards, which they are now mentioning. This is unfair at all,” said one job seeker Mr Luke Sibanda.
Another job seeker, Mr Shadreck Ndlovu said he has never known a salary in his 29 years and was confident of being employed but his hopes faded with the new requirement.
“I was hopeful of getting employed here but it’s all just dreams now. Why are they changing and where do they want us to go, how do we survive honestly? Should we resort to crime in order to earn a living. When I saw this advert I had seen my dreams becoming a reality,” said Mr Ndlovu.
Provincial Roads Engineer, Engineer Xolani Ncube, said those recruited will be doing routine maintenance work in Bulawayo and Umguza.
“The contracts are for three months with an option of renewal,” said Eng Ncube.
He initially said they will be taking on board 43 recruits for Bulawayo before changing the figure to 30 and further changing it to 25 while in Umguza, Eng Ncube said 23 will be taken.
The exercise was conducted by principal human resources officer Ms Sandra Mhlabi who first informed the crowd that those who are 17 years and below as well as those who are 50 years and above were ineligible for employment.
In an effort to have manageable numbers, said Ms Mhlabi, they had to further reduce the numbers by taking only those with Vundu cards.
An excited Mr Nigel Phiri, a holder of a Diploma in Civil Engineering said he was looking forward to gaining experience in his field of expertise.
“This is not what I trained for before but I am just happy that I got lucky and my number was picked. I hope I will gain experience and with a bit of some luck, vacancies for my expertise will arise within the ministry while I am still on contract,” said Mr Phiri.
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