2 515 000 Gauteng residents remain unemployed as Makhura’s job creation plans stumble

The slight decrease in the unemployment rate in Gauteng may be an indication that markets are stabilising in the wake of a pandemic-induced economic shutdown.

However, it does very little to inspire the 2 515 000 unemployed residents that might believe the government is doing everything in their power to create an environment conducive to more job opportunities.

Currently, there are also 657 000 discouraged job seekers in the province.

This was revealed this week when Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) released the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the second quarter of 2022.

The high unemployment rate is very concerning as this means that the interventions that Premier Makhura claims are in place to address the unemployment rate are not having an impact on the ground. The Gauteng Township Economic Development Act was promulgated back in March. According to its provisions, municipalities have six months to pass the by-laws required to fully implement the Act. It is also unclear how far the provincial government has come with the establishment of the Fund provided for in the Act, which is meant to support township businesses with start-up capital.

The DA supported the Act because as a piece of legislation, it contains all the building blocks needed. However, as is often the case with the government, the implementation lags far behind. What is required is a “whole of society” approach. The government needs to see businesses, big and small, as partners, not beneficiaries. Every member of society, whether in a township or not, must be seen as a potential customer, with spending power.

Premier Makhura’s cabinet appears unable to make the ideological and policy shift towards maximum personal and economic freedom that engages all of society.

Just the ICT sector alone has shown signs over the last two years that with the correct training and skills development our unemployed residents, particularly the youth would be able to use technology to start their own businesses. The ICT disruption brought about by the pandemic means there are many opportunities out there for our unemployed residents to mine.

The DA is ready and willing to forge a new path and collaborate with anyone who shares our values on economic freedom. We believe that it can be done, and we are making strides where we govern.

In the meantime, we will continue to put pressure on the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) to have our motion of no confidence in Premier Makhura put on the agenda for debate as soon as possible.