The DA has found an unlikely partner in Fedusa as it continues its fight for a youth wage subsidy.
The DA announced its collaboration with Fedusa at a briefing in Pretoria on Thursday.
“We support the youth wage subsidy as a means to create jobs for unemployed young South Africans. We recognise the moral obligation to put their interests first,” DA federal chairperson Wilmot James told reporters in Pretoria.
The DA has been vociferously advocating for the subsidy, which is being debated at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac).
The party believes it will create as many as 423 000 jobs for unemployed youth through the provision of tax incentives for employers who employ young inexperienced workers.
“We are sitting on a social time bomb that could explode at any moment. Many youth are unemployed and feel forgotten. If our youth don’t begin getting absorbed into the labour market, it is only going to get worse,” Fedusa general secretary Dennis George said.
The debate over the implementation of a youth wage subsidy is deadlocked at Nedlac with main opposition coming from the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu).
Putting pressure on ministers
Cosatu believes a youth wage subsidy will result in the wide scale dismissal of older workers in the place of younger counterparts.
In the collaboration, Fedusa will use its position within Nedlac to push for implementation, while the DA will use other platforms.
“This is a multi-pronged approach. Fedusa will use its labour influence while the DA will use its parliamentary platforms to pressurise ministers and so on; and combine this with other initiatives,” DA national spokesperson Mmusi Maimane said.
This latest move from the DA comes just over a month after it violently clashed with Cosatu members during a march in Johannesburg advocating for the youth wage subsidy.
Skirmishes left supporters on both sides injured as projectiles flew through the air.
“We will march again, make no mistake. Will we march on Cosatu? Well, that’s a strategic question,” James said.
Unscrupulous business people
George said Fedusa would make sure the youth wage subsidy was not abused by unscrupulous business people.
“We as a federation will address all concerns that the youth wage subsidy will not be used properly. Companies with good corporate governance won’t want to abuse taxpayers’ money and we will make sure they won’t,” he said.
The partnership marks the first time the DA has joined forces with a significant labour movement. Fedusa is the second largest labour federation in South Africa, claiming to have more than 500 000 affiliated members.
But James was quick to point out that their collaboration was not “a permanent partnership”.
“We are collaborating on the youth wage subsidy. This is should not be confused with the tripartite alliance,” James added.