By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) Economic Transformation Committee has detailed plans on how the party intends to create jobs as outlined in its manifesto.
The ANC, which has been in power since 1994, has come under fire for failing to tackle South Africa’s growing unemployment crisis.
Statistics South Africa’s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey shows 7.9 million people don’t have jobs in the country.
The official unemployment rate reached 32.1% in December 2023.
During the ANC’s post-manifesto briefing on Thursday, the chair of the party’s sub-committee on economic transformation, Mmamoloko Kubayi, said the governing party understands the urgency of the crisis.
“We committed to supporting programmes such as teacher assistance in schools, which we started as an initiative. It started with about 500 jobs; we expanded it to 1 million, and we’ve been able to deliver tangible results.
“So, we are saying this area of mass employment programme must be expanded to 2.5 million by the government, but this does not necessarily mean that all other areas are not going to create jobs.”
Deputy Chairperson of the ANC Economic Transformation Committee, Zuko Godlimpi, says the ANC’s manifesto recognised the current fiscal constraints including low growth and tax revenue.
Godlimpi says the amendments made to Regulation 28 of the Pension Funds Act must be reviewed.
“Economic theory proceeds from the understanding that investment is positively related to national savings. S0, the higher the savings are, the higher the levels of investment in the productive economy are supposed to be. But what the amendment of regulation 28 has done, unintentionally, is to lead to the off-shoring of increasing quantities of South African savings to foreign markets. This means an industrial South Africa that is starved of significant quantities of capital is not a strategic approach to managing our national pensions and savings. So, we’re going to have a discussion with the pensions industry, not that it will be an arbitrary move on regulation 28.”
Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has taken a jab at the Multi-Party Charter (MPC) over their comments that he was not working to end load shedding.
“When the president, Cyril Ramaphosa introduced the ministry, he made a point that we needed to focus attention on the execution and prosecution of the energy action plan that he had unveiled to the country in July 2022,” he said, adding that that has been his mission since taking office.
In the ANC’s consideration, Ramokgopa said this was not a permanent solution to the energy crisis.
He said that there was nothing new coming from the MPC’s plan to end load shedding.
“There’s nothing new, there’s a discovery that was made yesterday,” he said, taking a swipe at the DA-led pact.
On Wednesday, the Charter presented its plan to create a competitive and open energy market that will end load shedding and improve Eskom’s performance.
The MPC had said there was an urgent need in 2024 for the electorate to remove a failed government and hand the reins to a leadership with the skills, political will, and integrity to end rolling blackouts and increase sustainable energy development.
Ramokgopa said since March 2023, 3,500MW in additional energy has been added to the national grid and there has been a priority on maintenance and performance of six Eskom power stations.
He said there was an increased private sector and household investments in renewables.
Meanwhile trade union federation Cosatu has vowed to mobilise its members to vote for the ANC during the upcoming general elections.
The federation briefed the media on Thursday following its first Central Executive Committee meeting of the year.
Cosatu General secretary Solly Phetoe said while they are disappointed by the mistakes the government has made, it also appreciates the gains made since 1994.
“Cosatu and our affiliates have reaffirmed our support for the alliance and a decisive victory for our ally, the ANC, nationally and provincially. The federation is of a firm view that the National Democratic Revolution, steered by the ANC-led alliance, is the only programme to transform society.
“Whilst we are disappointed by mistakes made by the government, we appreciate the many decisive gains workers have won since 1994 and under the current 6th administration led by Ramaphosa.
“The alliance led by the ANC remains the only progressive and viable vehicle to advance working class struggles”
He said the federation has established “elections war rooms” with affiliates working to mobilise voters to return the ANC to office in May.
“We cannot afford to risk the gains working-class communities have won since 1994 to political parties that promise to gut the public service, roll back social upliftment programmes and collapse our progressive labour laws.
“The federation and affiliates have been engaging workers across the country on their experiences, hopes and proposals on how to improve their lives. We have been heartened by the trust they continue to place in their federation and the ANC, “added Phetoe.
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Video Courtesy of MYANC.