Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Rising unemployment - a ticking time-bomb?

By Marimuuthu Subramoney
(aka Subry Govender)

About a week ago while walking towards our offices in Gopalal Hurbans Road, I was stopped by two young ladies who asked: "Sir, can you offer us some jobs?"
The young ladies were polite, well-spoken and bright. They also appeared to be young women who have passed their matriculation. Wanting to know more about them I asked where they were from and what kind of jobs they were interested in.
"We are from upper Tongaat and are looking for anything to do. Most of our family members are unemployed and we are having a tough time," they responded.
"We don't know what to do because wherever we go people say they don't have any vacancies."
On another occasion recently, while I was visiting the Windsor Park golf course in Durban I was approached by a middle-aged man who is employed as a supervisor at the golf course.
"Boss, boss, I wonder if you can please help me," said the man who lives in KwaMashu.
"My son finished matric in 2009 and he can't find a job. You have a lot of connections, please try to see whether you can find him a job. He will do anything. He has been looking for a job for sometime but wherever he goes people say they have no jobs.
"I don't know what to do. I am worried that he may join the wrong people."
These interactions in Tongaat and at Windsor Park serves to highlight the seriousness of unemployment in our region, province and the country in general.
Recently we had incidents in Tongaat and Verulam where local residents took to the streets to protest against contractors carrying out government jobs. They accused the contractors of not employing local labour in terms of their agreements with the government. They demanded that they should be employed and the contractors should not bring in their own people.
The situation is so acute that people looking for jobs are clearly visible almost everywhere - in town and city centres, street corners, at robots, shopping complexes, business centres and industrial bases. At most places they are faced with signs that read: "No Vacancies" or "Awukho Ntsebensi"
According to recent statistics released by Statistics South Africa, it's estimated that nearly 25 percent of people of working age or about 4,5-million are unemployed and most of the jobless are the youth.
President Jacob Zuma and his government have realised that they are sitting on a ticking "time bomb" and recently announced measures in an attempt to create jobs. President Zuma and the Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, have proposed a R9-bn package dedicated to employment creation and R20-bn in incentives to manufacturing firms to create jobs.
While President Zuma and his government are trying to tackle the high unemployment rate and poverty, there seems to be a lack of consensus among role players - the government, private businesses, trade unions and the society at large - about the best way to reign in unemployment and poverty.
The incentives for manufacturing firms is a step in the right direction, but it seems that many people have lost the entrepreneurial spirit because of the labour laws that places severe restrictions on would be employers. In addition, the talk of nationalisation of mines and banks and the confiscation of land, all add to "murder" the entrepreneurial spirit among those currently in business and those who would like to pursue a career as business people.
It's clear that the government needs to encourage the entrepreneurial culture among all people instead of being held to ransom by organisations and individuals who have no idea whatsoever of how to be productive or to create jobs.
The Government needs to assist the new aspiring entrepreneurs and not the tenderpreneurs who have no vision whatsoever to create jobs, except to accumulate unbegotten wealth without expending any sweat or using their brain.
Failure to create the right conditions and climate for young and new business people to prosper and flourish and for millions of jobs to be created will be disastrous for our new non-racial democracy. The millions of jobless will not just continue to sit on the roadsides and twiddle their thumbs without becoming frustrated. - Subry Govender, Chief Editor

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