During the budget vote debate for the Department of Labour and Employment, the Minister Mr Thulas Nxesi outlined some of the interventions his department will use this year to address unemployment in an environment of poor economic growth.
He was quick to point out that his department’s main focus was to increase youth and women employment. Unemployment remains high at 32.7%, but there is a glimmer of hope when one considers that in the last quarter of 2022 86 000 job opportunities were created for young people, Mr Nxesi believes.
This trend will be supported, he said, by the Unemployment Insurance Fund Labour Activation Programme’s funded projects, which aim to create and maintain existing jobs, while the Temporary Employer and Employee Relief Scheme continues to support distressed companies. Meanwhile, the Employment Enhancement Programme aims to integrate 240 00 unemployed people back into the labour market.
This intervention and others of a similar nature will be achieved through the business turn-around and recovery programme implemented by Business Productivity SA. In addition and to curb the spike in the youth unemployment rate, the department will implement a new youth employment project. The UIF will support such initiatives and will make available R5 billion for industrial cooperation.
Mr Nxesi was also pleased to report that to date Productivity SA has achieved 100% results in improving the competitiveness of the services of small and medium enterprises in both the formal and informal economy. Through this initiative, 186 companies were supported and 16 000 jobs were retained.
The department is also reconfiguring itself to ensure that it meets its mandate to create employment. “We intend to place 113 000 people into employment over five years and to create internships programmes for unemployed graduates,” Mr Nxesi said. Disabled people have not been forgotten either and nine organisations will absorb 1 410 disabled employees in this financial year.
The Minister also assured his listeners that the department aims to achieve all this while ensuring that conditions of employment and wages are decent and in line with the Labour Relations and Minimum Wage Acts. Meanwhile, the department is also in the process of concluding the National Migration Labour Policy, which will be part of a broader national labour policy to mitigate the effects of migration on employment. He also reported that the department has engaged the Internal Labour Organisation to develop draft employment policies to address South Africa’s sustained levels of unemployment.
Also participating in the debate, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Labour and Employment Ms Lindiwe Dunjwa said much has been achieved, but a lot remains to be done to curb the rising unemployment in the country. She was unhappy with the progressive budget cuts the department has experienced in current and preceding years due to a lack of economic growth. She said: “These cuts will affect the critical programmes of the department to create and retain employment. That worries us as the committee.”
Speaking of the past, Ms Dunjwa emphasised that the department should not be apologetic about its transformation agenda that seeks to ensure South Africa’s labour market is representative of gender and racial demographics. She also stressed that her committee was unimpressed by the UIF and Compensation Fund’s failure to table their financial reports and gave the Minister 30 days to sort that out and report back to the committee on what is going on.
Dr Michael Cardo of the Democratic Alliance said the government should shoulder the blame for the unemployment the country has been subjected to. Reflecting on the unemployment statistics, he stated: “Currently, 11 million South Africans are without jobs, 3.3 million are discouraged job seekers and others have given up on looking for a job. Consequence of which has led to 70% of youth unemployment and a 42% unemployment rate.” This situation has, in his view, led to an increase in crime and a vicious cycle of disinvestment.
Abel Mputing
10 May 2023
Arrange a tour