The name might be Bond, James Bond

THE ANC yesterday promised to deliver on its promise to create more jobs in an economy that has been characterised by limited growth.

Factors such as job creation, health, education and securing investment in the economy for inclusive growth, as well as advancing social transformation, were some the key points of the ANC’S election manifesto delivered at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban yesterday.

The party’s 2019 election manifesto, titled “Lets Grow South Africa Together”, spoke of the party’s intention to create more jobs and radically transform the country’s education system so as to ensure that young people were well prepared for the future.

The party said it would shift its focus on ensuring quality education while also improving access. It would prioritise policies and strategies targeting the achievement of quality teaching and learning outcomes by enhancing the skills and competencies of educators.

The party said: “Quality education must lead to higher learner progression through institutions and high completion rates in schools, TVET colleges and universities.

“Unlocking the energy and creativity of South Africa’s young and working people, by building their skills and capacities, is critical to the eradication of poverty, unemployment and inequality. We shall ensure that skills development is at the heart of all aspects of our plans.”

The party said it would create 275000 jobs each year by boosting local demand for goods. It also said the party would invest more in the mining, manufacturing and agricultural sectors. “We will ensure that we not only create new jobs, but work hard to protect existing jobs. In line with the presidential jobs summit outcomes, we will take active steps to ensure that retrenchments are the last consideration taken by employers and that retrenchment procedures are reviewed,” read the document.

The party said it would set bold but achievable targets for youth internships, including prescribing a minimum percentage in the public sector while securing concrete commitments from the private sector.

On investment into the economy, the party said it would work to increase the levels of investment by R1.2 trillion over the next four years “as part of our plan to grow the economy and create jobs”.

“We are within reach of our target. These investments will help diversify the economy in sectors like mining, forestry, manufacturing, telecommunications, transport, energy, water, agri-processing, consumer goods, pharmaceutics, infrastructure and financial services.”

The party further said that it would push for workers to own stakes in companies that they worked for and to share profits.

This would be done through the introduction of legislation for the extension of company ownership to a broad base of workers through an employee ownership scheme and similar arrangements to supplement workers’ incomes and build greater partnerships between workers and owners to grow these businesses.

“We will create space for new emerging companies by ending monopolies and behaviour that stifles competition. We will also allocate at least 30% of government’s procurement spend to small businesses and co-operatives.

“We will work with the financial sector to increase industrial and enterprise financing for small businesses, black industrialists and co-operatives,” said the party.

Addressing the land question, the ANC said it would continue to support the amendment of Section 25 of the Constitution to clearly define the conditions under which expropriation of land without compensation can take place.

“We will submit the revised expropriation bill to Parliament to provide explicit circumstances under which land expropriation in the public interest may happen without compensation.

“The bill will ensure that laws regulating expropriation will include the principle of expropriation without compensation through just and equitable provisions set out in the Constitution.”

The party added that it would ensure that sustainable human settlements helped transform the spatial legacy of apartheid and build a more inclusive society.

“We will continue to maintain and expand our social security system to protect the vulnerable and reduce poverty,” said the party.

The ANC also promised to tackle crime.