Youth wage subsidy now!
Today the DA Youth is unveiling a billboard in central Johannesburg as a part of our youth wage subsidy campaign in order to take the struggle of unemployed young South Africans a step further.
We are taking the fight to the streets of Johannesburg where many young people are without jobs and without hope. We are taking the fight to the ANC's alliance partners who continue to deny young South Africans the wage subsidy that could create over 400 000 jobs in a three year period.
Our demand is simple: we want a youth wage subsidy and we want it now!
A youth wage subsidy, by offering employers financial incentives to hire first time job seekers, would dramatically increase the prospects of the so-called "lost generation".
The location of this billboard we are unveiling today to highlight our demands is no coincidence. This site where we stand marks the half-way point between the head offices of COSATU and the SACP, a few short blocks to the North, and Luthuli House, a few blocks south.
Today we are literally taking the campaign for a youth wage subsidy to the very heart of ANC alliance territory on behalf of the youth of South Africa.
Every time representatives of COSATU, the SACP or the ANC cross the Queen Elizabeth Bridge, they will be reminded of our demand for a youth wage subsidy. We hope they will pause to think about the quarter of a million young South Africans that could be employed right now if it were not for their selfish political games.
This should never have been allowed to happen. The National Treasury, which has also identified the subsidy as one of the key ways to drive employment, has gone so far as to set aside funding to implement it and has been ready to proceed with roll out for almost 2 years. The subsidy has, however, been blocked by COSATU at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC). By opposing the youth wage subsidy, COSATU and their fellow alliance partner, the SACP, are putting the interests of their own members ahead of the poor and marginalised jobless youth.
Our message to COSATU and the SACP is this: We will not sit back and allow you to hold South Africa to ransom. We will not allow you to kill job opportunities for young people who want to work.
As part of this campaign, we are also revealing the second poster in our ‘In our future' poster series.
This poster, which will be erected on all university campuses via the DA Students Organisation (DASO), shows a young person begging at a traffic light, holding a sign board saying ‘have degree, will work for food'. It is designed to highlight the experience of a growing number of young South Africans, of whom 3.2 million are unemployed and 600 000 have graduated but are without work.
In OUR future, the state will act as a facilitator of opportunities for these young South Africans, and all people with talent and dedication will have a chance to improve their lives. In OUR future there would be a youth wage subsidy to help young people on to the first rung of the employment ladder.
Note to Editors:
The poster series, entitled ‘In our future', follows on from the initial ‘you wouldn't look twice' DASO poster that went up on campuses in January and February, and serves to further expand our vision for the future of South Africa.
The series of posters will be released in a phased approach on campuses, social media and on the campaign website www.inourfuture.co.za. Each poster will be launched alongside an event that illustrates the issues and vision we portray in that specific poster. The overarching vision we are seeking to illustrate is one in which there is:
Tolerance for everyone, even if their life choices are different from our own,
The opportunity for anyone and everyone with talent and dedication to realise their dreams no matter their background, and,
Respect for the constitution as the ultimate law in South Africa.
Statement issued by Makashule Gana, DA Youth Leader, March 8 2012
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