DA: Not much to celebrate
CAPE TOWN - DA leader John Steenhuisen said there is not much to celebrate on Workers’ Day when millions of South Africans cannot find a job. “How can we celebrate when youth unemployment stands at 56 per cent? How can we celebrate when workers come by with less and less of their wages because food prices have gone up by 14 per cent and electricity by 19 per cent in the last year?” he asked
“The thing we can celebrate, however, is that we live and aid democracy. In the 2024 national elections, we can displace this job-destroying ANC government and replace it with a job-creating DA-led moonshot pact government. Our top priority is to lift people into jobs and opportunity. It is the quickest way out of poverty and the surest way to build a better future.”
The DA-led City of Cape Town and Western Cape government were doing all they could to create jobs and for entrepreneurs to flourish, he added.
“That includes massive investments to end load-shedding and ensure a sustainable water supply. In the last quarter, 98 per cent of all net new jobs in South Africa were created in the DA Western Cape. The ANC-run provinces contributed just two per cent. We will give South Africa something real to celebrate on Workers’ Day.”
In a statement, Parliament’s Presiding Officers, National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and National Council of Provinces Chairperson Amos Masondo paid tribute to workers for the ‘gallant struggles’ they waged against oppressive labour laws under colonial and apartheid systems of government.
“Continual strengthening of existing labour laws and extensive oversight on their implementation remain Parliament’s priority. Through its oversight instruments, Parliament continues to sharpen policy and law-making mechanisms to improve the living and working conditions of the South African working class at large,” they said.
The FW de Klerk Foundation, also in a statement, said the country was in dire need of strategies and policies to promote an environment conducive to investment and economic growth.
This would ultimately lead to job creation, the foundation said.
“Especially worrying. and often described as a ticking time bomb, is the high number of unemployed youths. According to StatsSA, youth aged between 15 and 24 and 25 to 34 years old recorded the highest unemployment rates of 61 per cent and 39.9 per cent in Q4:22 respectively.”