DA's jobs scheme will put a job in every household in the Free State
18 March 2019
Dumelang Democrats,
South Africa is facing an unprecedented unemployment crisis. Our province has been particularly affected by the ANC's failure in government.
Today, we gathered unemployed South Africans from across the province to share the Democratic Alliance's (DA) plan to boost job creation in the Free State. Our province has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country with an expanded unemployment rate of 39.3%, which is above the national average.
Young people and the elderly alike are among the groups hardest hit by unemployment. The unemployment crisis, which the ANC has given free rein to, is not just numbers on a page. Unemployment has a face. The face of unemployment is our daughters, sons, cousins and friends who struggle to find work because the ANC has killed the economy. There is no dignity in being an unemployed graduate and dependent on grandma or grandpa's old age grant.
Unemployment coupled with rising prices of electricity and fuel has thrown many people into despair in our country. Furthermore, the recent power failure at Eskom is further eroding job creation prospects.
Many of you in this room do not know the dignity of doing a job and supporting your family. The DA will ensure that your dignity is restored by placing jobs in every household in the Free State.
Where we govern the Western Cape, our extended unemployment rate is the lowest in South Africa at 23.1%. The Western Cape's nearest rival Gauteng is 10.5 percentage points behind at 33.6%. This reflects the DA Government's unwavering commitment to creating jobs and growing our economy for the benefit of all South Africans.
Over 500,000 jobs, or half a million jobs, were created in the Western Cape in the last 10 years the DA operated. To put this into context, this is roughly equal to the number of unemployed people in the Free State. So in reality, it is possible for DA to employ in every household.
In Gauteng, almost 90% of jobs created last year were in DA-governed areas.
If the DA can do it in the Western Cape and Gauteng, we can surely do it for the Free State.
If the failed ANC could not create jobs for our people in the last 10 years, how can we trust them to create jobs for them in the next five years?
The Free State and indeed our country cannot afford to continue down this underdevelopment path, we need a party that is serious about growing the economy and creating jobs for the millions of young South Africans who are trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty due to the rampant corruption of the ANC.
A DA government would put a job in every household in the Free State by ensuring the following:
Introduce a Voluntary National Citizen Service Year: This will be offered to every matriculant who does not qualify for tertiary education and will be given the opportunity to provide service to the country, or their community, in exchange for a stipend and valuable work experience.
The DA has a six-point plan to develop more successful small businesses: This is a comprehensive plan, and includes, for example, incentives for people to invest in small businesses, providing more funding to small businesses, and reducing the number of regulations that can make it difficult to start a small business. The plan also includes more guidance and support for small businesses.
DA's Jobs Act: The DA's Jobs Act will attract more investment to South Africa by realizing investment for jobs and a job in every household.
Land Reforms: The success rate of DA when it comes to land reforms is the highest in the country, and this is due to the fact that DA provides better support and access to markets to emerging farmers.
Elimination of Employment Corruption:
Increasing transparency of recruitment process:
Ensuring that high-profile public sector jobs are appropriately advertised through a variety of media; And
Providing a hotline to report cases of employment corruption.
Introduce legislation to protect job seekers, especially women, who are vulnerable to forced transactional sexual solicitations. The law should:
codifying sexual exploitation as a specific form of corruption;
Protecting individuals who report incidents from self-incrimination, therefore changing blame from bilateral to unilateral; And
To raise awareness about the rights of job seekers and employees.
Requires that all candidates applying for employment in the public service complete a public service entrance examination.
A vote for DA on May 8 is a vote for jobs.
The DA is committed to building a South Africa for all – where every citizen knows the dignity of a job.
Issuer Patricia Coppen, DA Free State Premier Candidate, 18 March 2019