Solidarity: Scrap regulations leading to rising unemployment
30 November 2021
Solidarity today expressed its concern about the latest labour figures that have been announced. According to these figures, fewer than one quarter of the country’s population currently has a job. Solidarity believes that the government’s labour regulations are largely responsible and that these regulations should be scrapped.
According to calculations, the number of employed people have decreased from 14,9 million to 14,3 million from the second to the third quarter. If only adults of working age are taken into account in these calculations, the unemployment rate, in terms of the extended definition, is at a record 46,6%.
“It is time for the government to reconsider all forms of regulation in the labour market. The minimum wage and BEE regulations should be scrapped immediately, and it should be easier to employ workers. The regulations are strangling the economy and exacerbating the unemployment crisis,” said Theuns du Buisson, economic researcher at Solidarity.
Du Buisson added that the 46% of people between the ages of 15 and 34 who are not involved in any form of work or training at the moment can be laid at the door of the government. He further believes that the government should get out of the way of the private sector, which has the capacity to solve the problem.
“The government insists on throwing potential workers to the wolves. It is time for the labour market to be liberated to save the youth. An entire generation is currently being deprived of the opportunity to gain work experience. For people between 25 and 34, the extended unemployment rate now stands at 62%. The number of discouraged job seekers is also increasing drastically. It is simply unsustainable to keep these people dependent on the state. The government must step down and give experts in the private sector the space to stimulate growth in the economy and employ more people,” Du Buisson concluded.
Issued by Theuns du Buisson, Economic Researcher, Solidarity, 30 November 2021
