4IR should not exacerbate unemployment – Labour Minister

EMPLOYMENT and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi is scratching his head about the impact of automation on jobs in the country, hoping it happens out of a pressing necessity and doesn’t worsen unemployment.

“There is a notion that has become a cliché that speaks about change, because somewhere someone is talking about change rather than change dictated by our own environment,” Nxesi has said.

“Change should not be for the sake of change, it should be adapted to the needs of the economy and its population.

“As a country that is grappling with unemployment, we must ensure that change does not exclude our people in the world of work, but rather enhances their productivity, mobility and speaks to the needs of the population.”

Nxesi was replying to written questions in the National Assembly. The IFP’s Siphosethu Ngcobo asked what plans were in place to cushion workers from the increase of automation. Ngcobo also asked about the plan to “upskill those whose jobs are in danger of becoming redundant as the Fourth Industrial Revolution sets in”.

Nxesi urged Ngcobo to remember that President Cyril Ramaphosa established a commission to look into the opportunities presented by the digital industrial revolution.

“The work of the commission will be tabled at the National Economic Development and Labour Council for further discussion on how to come up with policies that will respond to the changes in the labour market, as well as how to upskill, reskill and produce future skills that will be needed by the economy,” said Nxesi.

Automation was believed to have already cost jobs in South Africa’s banking sector. Standard Bank announced the closure of 104 branches countrywide in 2019.

Daniel B le Roux, a socio-informatics expert based at Stellenbosch University, wrote in 2018 that occupations employing an estimated 3.6 million workers in South Africa “have a 90% or greater probability of being automatable in the near future”.

These were part of roughly 14 million jobs in the country.

The occupations with a greater probability of automation included cashiers, tellers, secretaries and telephone salespeople, according to Le Roux.

“Workers of all skill levels are at risk. But trends suggest that people in low and medium-skilled occupations are generally more at risk than those who require extensive education.

“For South Africa, with its large number of low-skilled workers, a dramatically improved education system is an obvious and critical concern,” Le Roux wrote.