Sol Plaatje must turn streetlights on for festive season
| by Andrew Louw, MPL – DA Northern Cape Provincial Leader Date: 11 February 2020Release: Immediate Democratic Alliance statement by Andrew Louw, MPL DA Northern Cape Provincial LeaderMore work needed for NC youth to be economically active11 February 2020 Release: ImmediateThe Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape notes that the Quarterly Labour Force Survey published today shows an overall reduction of 3.8% in the provincial unemployment rate. While it is a step in the right direction and maintains the momentum of the previous quarter’s reduction in unemployment, it remains a very small step indeed. We still have a long path to walk to reach acceptable levels of economic participation and labour absorption, especially among the youth.Once again, the Northern Cape has the highest rate of people aged 15 years to 24 years who are not receiving formal education, who are not employed and who are not otherwise economically active. Unlike the trend for the province overall, youth unemployment increased by 1.6% and now stands at a staggering 37%.It cannot be that more than a third of our youth are left without economic or educational opportunities. Clearly, more work needs to be done by the provincial government to create an environment which is conducive for the sustained creation of sustainable jobs.This has to begin with ending the political misuse of programs such as the EPWP or the CWP. These programmes are intended to be short-term poverty alleviation programmes which keeps beneficiaries economically active through the transfer of skills. The reality, however, is that the programmes serve a system of political patronage. People appointed to the programmes are not rotated on the prescribed basis and continue to stay in place for months or even years after they were meant to be financially self-sufficient. And there is precious little skills transfer taking place, as beneficiaries are often forced to undertake political campaigns or activities.For the youth of the province, it is more important than ever before to roll up our sleeves and start with the work of job creation. Media Enquiries Andrew Louw, MPLDA Northern Cape Provincial Leader082 383 6914 Tharina WhittakerResearcher071 251 5558 |
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