Charles Molele
The African National Congress has an elaborate plan on how to create an inclusive economy. The plan includes how to stimulate growth by creating more than 257 000 jobs per annum.
President Cyril Ramaphosa outlined this on Saturday at the ANC’s manifesto launch in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal where he said it was ‘a tragedy of vast proportions’ that over 9 million South Africans were unemployed.
The unemployment rate in South Africa rose to 27.5 percent in the third quarter of 2018 from 27.2 percent in the previous period, according to Stats SA.
Ramaphosa told thousands of ANC supporters that among other instruments, the government will use procurement to support transformation and job creation including allocating 30% of procurement spent to small businesses and cooperatives.
Ramaphosa said “we are going to make sure that we utilize Government’s procurement to ensure we do benefit SMMEs, particularly those that operate in our townships.”
He also revealed that the SA SME Fund will invest just over R1-billion in black-owned small and medium-sized enterprises, including tech start-ups.
He said that his administration remained steadfast to raise R1.2 trillion worth of investments over five years to drive job creation, the eradication of poverty and bringing about a more equal society.
“In line with this task, we are mobilising all social partners behind an economic recovery plan. This has been demonstrated through the Presidential Jobs Summit, which agreed on a series of measures to create additional jobs and protect existing ones. Business, labour and civil society are centrally involved in government’s ambitious investment drive,” said Ramaphosa.
“This includes the inaugural South Africa Investment Conference which aimed to mobilise significantly higher levels of domestic and international investment as a necessary condition for growth and greater job creation. Our social partners support government’s economic stimulus and recovery plan, which includes a number of short-term measures to return the country to shared growth.”
Ramaphosa said that central to his government’s recovery plan was the intensification of infrastructure construction and maintenance, to provide social and economic services, create jobs, expand the infrastructure supplier industries, draw in the private sector and bring to life the continental plans for African economic integration.
“The ANC-led government will work to ensure effective partnerships in building more roads, schools, health facilities, water and sanitation systems, rail, roads, ports, telecommunications, as well as electricity generation and distribution,” he said.
“This is supported by a dedicated Infrastructure Fund that involves private sector players.”
Addressing unemployment, particularly among the youth, was at the heart of ANC’s 2019 elections manifesto, said Ramaphosa.
“We have made it easier for young people to enter the public service by scrapping work experience as a requirement for entry-level jobs. The ANC-led government has also expanded artisanal training, focused skills development on future areas of work such as information technology and encourages youth entrepreneurship,” said Ramaphosa.
“The Youth Employment Service (YES) is a public-private partnership that facilitates the entry of disadvantaged young people into the job market by opening opportunities to gain work experience for a period of one year.”
During his first administration and in the context of the global economic crisis, former President Jacob Zuma promised to create 4 million jobs but only 1.4 materialised.
Analysts, however, argue that these figures merely represent the narrow unemployment rate as it excludes those who have not been actively looking for work.
Opposition parties in South Africa said Ramaphosa’s manifesto speech contained empty promises.
Democratic Alliance leader said in a statement that most of what Ramaphosa promised has already been ‘promised over and over again by previous presidents and have never been delivered on’.
“Ramaphosa showed no sense of urgency. All of his solutions are long term and slow, when South Africa needs urgent change now,” Maimane said.
“Nothing shows this more than his empty, pointless words on job creation. Ramaphosa promises 275 000 new jobs a year, but in his first year in the presidency, South Africa lost 278 000 jobs,” Maimane said.
Maimane said even though the target of 275000 jobs would be reached, it would take 35 years to defeat unemployment.
“It will also take 35 years to deal with all outstanding land claims at the current wait, despite many promises to speed it up. Land reform claimants do not have 35 years to wait,” said Maimane.
