Unemployment figures illustrate misguided ANC labour policy

The fact that 267,000 South Africans have lost their jobs between the first and second quarter of 2009, according to data released in Stats SA's Quarterly Labour Force survey today (see here), is a clear signal that the ANC's stance on labour policy is misguided and ultimately destructive to employment creation. Far from creating the 500,000 new jobs that President Zuma promised, the ANC's misguided labour policy is actively fuelling job losses - thus compounding the effects of the global recession in South Africa. Including discouraged job seekers, the unemployment rate in South Africa stands at 29.7%. In other words, three in ten potential workers are unemployed. The effect of this is clear:

• Families are facing the very real problem of not being able to buy food
• Homeowners are no longer able to service their mortgages
• School leavers have little prospect of finding a job in order to support themselves and contribute to society

The ANC now needs to accept that political rhetoric cannot solve the real issues facing the labour market in South Africa. Rather than focusing their attention on scrapping labour brokers, Labour Minister Membathise Mdladlana, needs to recognise that:

• The demand for labour brokers is a response in part to rigid labour regulation
• The shortage of skills is a major cause of unemployment that needs urgent attention
• The DoL is not capable of enforcing its own laws that are supposed to protect both permanent and temporary workers

South Africa will only be able to create employment opportunities after these issues have been dealt with. Going out of one's way to accommodate the wishes of trade unions is not prudent labour policy, and commitments towards employment creation need to be backed by a capable administration. Workers cannot better their income because they cannot access training programmes, and the unemployed struggle to find jobs in a heavily regulated market. It is crucial that the law makes it easier for workers to find employment.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) will take the ANC government to task on its promise to reduce unemployment. In order to ascertain what contribution, if any, the Department of Labour has made to the creation of job opportunities through training, the DA will be asking the following parliamentary questions:

• Upon what grounds was the SETA programme initiated?
• How much money has now been spent on the various SETA programs since its inception?
• How many individuals have been trained by the programs in this period?

Statement issued by Andrew Louw, MP, Democratic Alliance shadow minister of labour, July 28 2009

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