Stable family unit vital

SIKONATHI Mantshantsha’s piece on profit and privatisation being the pathway to sustainable prosperity for all [SD, May 5] is spot on.

Everyone interested in the future of the country and eliminating unemployment should read it.

There is, however, another critical reason for much of our financial woe: the “elephant in the room”, if you will.

In the course of my work I receive about 50 CVs from job seekers per week and interview around 10 of them per week. I’ve been doing this for five years. About 90% (male and female) have on average 2.3 children and 82% are unmarried, single parents. Of the 82%, 70% are female. All 70% are under 26 years old.

A country’s strength has as its foundation the family unit. Clearly we face a bleak future given these first-hand statistics.

It is not known how many of these job seekers go on to have more children but my guess is that many do. How can we expect these children, often raised by grandmothers, to become well-rounded and stimulated teenagers and adults? Of course there are exceptions but these are few and far between.

There are also cases where some husbands (some of the 18% of married males) have to leave the family to seek employment elsewhere, which is understandable. But the vast majority of young job seekers in my area – the old Border and Transkei region – have children out of wedlock. And therein lies the problem. A child thrives in the cocoon of a two-parent family with grandparents playing a peripheral but important role. Without it there is often lack of stability in a child’s formative years.

Certainly one is entitled to have as many or as few children as one wishes, just as much as one is entitled to get married or not, but these decisions will impact your child’s developmental and educational future. — Name supplied, via e-mail