Alderman James Vos, mayoral committee member for economic growth, with contact centre agent Tarren-Lee Petersen. (Image: Supplied)
CAPE TOWN OFFICIALS are CELEBRATING a new wave of call centre jobs for Mitchells Plain, but a DARK TRUTH lurks behind the smiling press photos. This is NOT economic salvation—it’s the SYSTEMATIC TRAP of a “BPO COLONY,” where an entire generation is being funneled into DEAD-END, soul-crushing work while the city boasts of “progress.”
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis hails the “enabling role” of the city, but insiders whisper this is a calculated move to PAD STATISTICS with low-wage, high-turnover positions that offer little upward mobility. The so-called “skills development” is a CRUEL JOKE—training workers to endure verbal abuse from overseas customers for multinational corporations that pay a FRACTION of Western wages. This is the REAL “inclusive growth”: inclusion in a global underclass.
With over 100,000 Capetonians already chained to headsets, this sector’s explosive growth is a DAMNING INDICTMENT of failed economic policy. The city proudly notes Mitchells Plain supplies the largest share of this workforce at 16.3%—proof that the most marginalized communities are being TARGETED as a cheap labor reservoir. Is this the future we’re building? A metropolis of call boxes where dreams go to DIE on hold?
Alderman James Vos calls this a “powerful driver,” but the only thing it drives is PROFIT for offshore companies and political points for local elites, all while masquerading as opportunity. We are witnessing the WHOLESALE CONVERSION of human potential into disposable customer service units. This isn’t development; it’s a disturbing new form of economic serfdom, and they’re selling it to you as a victory. Is this the only future our leaders can imagine—a city forever on the phone, begging for scraps from a screen?
Author: Kayitsi.com
