Of all, the most anticipated Budget Vote debate was that of the Department of Employment and Labour. Much hinged on it as the country waited with great expectation to see what strategies this department will come up with to create the much- needed jobs to arrest the spiking rate of unemployment.
The Minister of the Department of Employment and Labour, Mr Thembelani Nxesi, delivered the Budget Vote speech of his department in the National Assembly today.
As expected, Mr Nxesi outlined the department’s strategy to create jobs and curb unemployment. “We will leverage resources of the department, entities and other labour market instruments such as the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the Compensation Fund to preserve jobs and to invest in job-creation initiatives.”
Coupled with that, would be the coordination and alignment of the department with other agencies to ensure that “people get the skills required in the market place”, he said.
He then went on to spell out other interventions that the department has earmarked to deal with unemployment and job creation. “Our Public Employment Services Branch has been allocated R611 million to provide free career counselling, retaining and upskilling, job placement and to provide subsidies to support workers with disabilities.”
To curb youth unemployment, the Minister said his department would establish 10 specialised Youth Centres to add on the existing 126 Labour Centres to see to it that the youth is provided with the necessary skills to ensure that it’s employable and can participate actively in the economy. “These Youth Centres will provide programmes for the youth in transition from school to work, including 130 000 apprenticeships and learnerships over three years.”
A whooping R7.9 billion has been set aside to pay hiring subsidies to the private sector, to assist the unemployed persons to start their own businesses and to fund three new black asset management companies. These efforts are meant to create jobs and arrest unemployment, the Minister said.
The Department of Higher Education and Training will also play a critical role, he said, in addressing the future skills needs of the labour market. “The President has said we must train the youth for digital jobs which are expected to be created in the wake of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
Tied to the department’s cause, is a need to ensure that our country is productive, he said. “We can preserve jobs by improving the productivity and competitiveness of our businesses. Productivity South Africa has done a sterling work in assisting SMMEs (micro, small and medium-sized enterprises) through its Turnaround Solution Programme. We currently reviewing its funding model, so that it can expand its work.”
Most of all, he underlined the need of a labour market that is conducive to investment.
The brutal truth is that, over the past 25 years, the department has not addressed the plight of the unemployed, said Mr Michael Cardo. Instead “it has worked for the trade unions, it has worked for those fortunate enough to be in gainful employment.”
According to him, key statistics bear this out. “In 1994, there were 3.6 million unemployed South Africans. In 2019, that number is 10 million. Two adults in every five cannot find work.”
Every single day for the past 10 years, almost 900 people joined the ranks of unemployment, he pointed out. “Today, only 43% of South African adults work. In most countries, the figure is 60% or more.”
Of all sectors, the youth bear the brunt of unemployment and the consequences of that are dire, he emphasised. “This is a ticking time bomb that threatens to rip apart our social fabric.”
A change in labour relations would go a long way in addressing some of the unemployment changes the country is faced with, he suggested.
And the labour regime should not be in favour of those who have work, and as a society “let us work together for the 10 million South Africans without work”.
The skills mismatch between what is taught at our institutions of higher learning, and what is required in the job market, remains a cause for concern, observed Mr Xolani Ngwezi, of the National Assembly, who was among the participants in the debate.
In his view, there is a need for active labour market policies to raise the employability of the labour force, especially the youth. “The bridge we must cross in this respect is to create jobs which allow our youth to be apprenticed (employ someone as an apprentice) first and gain the requisite experience for the transition into the labour market.”
Restrictive legislation and policies are to blame for the rising unemployment in the country, Mr Heloise Jordaan opined. “This is a root cause of large companies taking their factories and other businesses abroad.”
He is of the view that the current budget speaks to the department’s original mandate of enforcing labour relations, not its expanded mandate of addressing job creation and unemployment.
Another Member of Parliament highlighted the need to transform the South African labour laws which he said is long-overdue. “We need to remove labour brokers to allow companies to employ workers directly. This will stop the exploitation of employees.”
By Abel Mputing
11 July 2019
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