Big Brother approach to running the economy is killing jobs

Dear Editor

The Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for Q3:2023, released today, underscores the intractable nature of South Africa’s unemployment crisis under successive ANC governments. South Africans can either have a ruling party that is up to the task of running a modern economy and forging an environment conducive to job creation, or it can have the ANC back in power in 2024. It cannot have both. That is the lesson to be drawn going into next year’s national and provincial elections.

The national unemployment rate now stands at 31.9%, a 0.7% decrease from the previous quarter. However, on the expanded definition, the unemployment rate still hovers above 41%. So long as the ANC remains in power, the status quo will remain.

The ANC’s Big Brother approach to economic stewardship has ensured that millions of South Africans are destitute and out of work. Small businesses remain hampered by red tape, and the automatic extension of collective bargaining agreements to small and new firms is a jobs-killer. Through the Employment Equity Amendment Act and its associated regulations, the ANC has become increasingly aggressive in its insistence on enforcing racial quotas in the labour market. The Racial Quotas Act will deter investment, sap growth and destroy jobs.

Only a DA-led Government can turn this situation around.

A deeper analysis of the data reveals that the ANC’s inability to ensure a stable power supply is exacerbating the unemployment crisis, particularly among young South Africans. Young people aged between 15 and 34 years old are overwhelmingly locked out of opportunity: 43,4% of them are unable to contribute meaningfully to the economy. This translates to 4,6 million young South Africans that have been failed by the ANC.

The ANC has done nothing to fix the structural barriers that stunt South Africa’s growth and hinder job-creation. In addition to its inability to foster the requisite growth, the ANC has failed to relax labour market regulations and improve the quality of our education system.

In stark contrast to the national trend, the DA-led Western Cape has demonstrated, once again, that good governance can grow the economy and lift South Africans out of poverty. The Western Cape’s unemployment rate now sits at 20.2%, a decrease from 20.9% in the previous quarter. Economies where the DA governs are growing. This achievement could be replicated throughout South Africa with a capable government and a private sector freed from the dead hand of overregulation.

This weekend, South Africans have the opportunity to begin the process of rescuing the country. Register to vote DA in 2024 and save the country from never-ending unemployment bought to you by the ANC.

Regards

Dr Michael Cardo MP
DA Shadow Minister of Employment and Labour