The economic crisis is affecting the poor the most, Jimmy Manyi, head of the Black Economic Forum and Director General in the Department of Labour, said on Wednesday.
He was addressing a Human Sciences Research Council conference, entitled ”Responding to the Global Economic Crisis”, in Boksburg.
”The crisis has hit South Africa and other developing countries hard,” Manyi said.
”Companies are closing factories and workers are being dismissed. The latest International Labour Organisation report indicates that more than 50-million people will lose their jobs by the end of this year to join the already unemployed 200-million,” Manyi said.
The crisis also has a gender bias.
”Women are the first to be fired — or else they accept lower wages.”
Manyi said in South Africa, a combination of monetary and fiscal policies is playing a role in the revival of the economy.
”These policies appear to be a step in the right direction,” he said.
Manyi said business can assist by concentrating on labour-intensive programmes for job creation, as well as converting informal employment into ”decent work” — a term coined at the Presidential Economic Joint Working Group last year.
He said that business should also continue investing in skills development.
”There must be a coherent approach by business to developing skills and we must discourage the importation of skills. This is a time bomb and eventually people will revolt against it,” he warned.
It is time to move away from ”the blaming mode” as far as the crisis is concerned and to ”pull together”, Manyi said. — Sapa