South Africa should look at Chinese-model on jobs: Ramaphosa

WHILE the state has a clear role to play in job creation, it is ultimately the private sector that creates the most jobs, says president Cyril Ramaphosa.

Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, Ramaphosa highlighted China as a good example of mixed economic growth, and noted the private sector currently employs some three-quarters of South Africa’s workers and accounts for over two-thirds of investment and research and development expenditure.

In South Africa, the number of people employed in the public sector increased from 1.9 million in 2002 to 2.8 million in 2017.

Over the same period, the number of people employed in the private sector increased from 8.2 million to 13.5 million.

“South Africa is not alone in seeking to rapidly expand our productive capacity by unleashing the potential of the private sector,” Ramaphosa said.

“One just needs to look, for example, at the approach taken by China under Deng Xiaoping