Gigaba decries levels of poverty, unemployment

Transformation is a fact of life and should ultimately be in the interest of all South African companies, Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba says.

In a speech read on his behalf by the department’s spokesman, Mayihlome Tshwete, at the Topco Media Top 500 Companies Awards in Johannesburg on Tuesday evening, Gigaba said it was only by creating black wealth that “we can truly normalise our society to the benefit of all South Africans and make a credible effort to creating a nonracial society.

“Despite two decades of macroeconomic stability, fiscal prudence and, until recently, consistent growth, the South African economy continues to be bedevilled by unsustainable levels of poverty, unemployment and inequality.

“These ills, as we know, are not randomly distributed, but are concentrated primarily on black people, women and the youth. We contend that these negative outcomes flow from the structure of our economy inherited from apartheid-colonialism, which is fundamentally problematic,” Gigaba said.

Talk of radical economic transformation has gathered momentum in recent weeks, with the ANC saying the black majority should have a bigger stake in the economy.

Gigaba said the ANC-led government, through its various economic policies and programmes over the past 22 years, had been successful in creating a semblance of black ownership in the economy and a significant black middle class, but more still needed to be done.

Growth needed to be inclusive, with businesses hiring workers and paying them higher wages and allowing workers to participate in the value they create, Gigaba said.