Workers’ Day celebrations will mean very little to many unemployed South Africans, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday.
Speaking on the eve of the public holiday, the party’s labour spokesperson, Mark Lowe, said the government has failed to respond to the challenges faced by the unemployed.
”The slow pace of job creation under the African National Congress government will tinge tomorrow’s Workers’ Day celebrations with disappointment and concern, as close to 40% of able-bodied South Africans remain unable to take their rightful place alongside their employed compatriots,” he said.
Quoting from the recently released South African Employment Report, Lowe said the current 20 000 jobs being created a month are far below the government’s own target.
”Our economy, therefore, is still creating jobs at less than half the required rate to see even the narrow unemployment figure of 25,6% brought to under 15% by 2014, as government has aimed to do,” he said.
For the situation to be turned around, Lowe called on Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana to show more enthusiasm to encourage people to finish school.
”The recently released employment report clearly shows that the highest rate of unemployment is amongst people that exited schooling at grade 11 or lower.
”It is therefore of paramount importance that … Mdladlana, in his capacity as the executive authority in charge of the National Skills Development Strategy, takes immediate action to prioritise an initiative to get as many people to obtain their grade-12 certificates,” he said.
Mdladlana has only preoccupied himself with affirmative-action policies and consistently ignored the call for the review of the country’s inflexible labour-law regime, Lowe said.
”South Africa does not need a labour minister who will exert all his effort in focusing on overly race-focused affirmative action and empowerment policies while our economy is running empty on skills and its capacity to offer employment to the people of our country is being diminished,” he said. — Sapa