Western Cape Government Calls on Organised Labour to Work With It

Premier Alan Winde notes the serious concerns raised by trade unions who marched on the Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP) and national Parliament today, 7 October 2024, as part of a one-day strike.

“As the Western Cape Government (WCG) we share many of COSATU’s concerns. Weak and devastatingly low economic growth, South Africa’s high unemployment rate, and elevated levels of crime are impeding our efforts to reduce poverty, especially for our most vulnerable residents,” the Premier said, adding, “but it makes no sense calling a strike on a weekday. This is counter-productive. Instead, we need to double down to resuscitate economic growth. Protest is a key pillar of our democracy, but industrial action does not help us to jumpstart growth and create more jobs. I am pleased that other services have not been significantly disrupted”

The WCG has been steadily implementing numerous interventions to generate as many jobs as possible to see residents of the province prosper.

This includes the provincial government’s Growth For Jobs (G4J) plan, which is well-advanced. G4J is a comprehensive and ambitious plan to achieve breakout economic growth of between 4% and 6% annually by 2035 and to create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

This initiative, and others, are the primary reason why the Western Cape has maintained the lowest unemployment rate in the country at 22.2% (in quarter two of 2024). While this is still too high, the Premier pointed out, “It is still easier to find a job in the Western Cape. This is due in large part to this government helping businesses and companies to make it easier for them to invest in our province, bringing more economic opportunities with them and creating more jobs.”

However, the poor performance of vital sectors of the economy, namely logistics, and the poor performance of the Port of Cape Town are an obstacle to meaningful growth. “We must have a fully operational port to drive economic growth and increase exports, and we must further enable private sector involvement in port operations. I urge organised labour to join us in exerting more pressure on national government to better utilise and fully implement Operation Vulindlela to unlock the immense potential of the logistics and export sectors. The Government of National Unity provides a huge opportunity to work across society to create more jobs for everyone – from enabling the logistics environment and implementing remote working visas we must double down on all our efforts to ensure that more of our residents have the chance to get a job the Premier continued.

Violent crime has for too long plagued our communities and by decentralising policing, the WCG and its law enforcement partners will be able to bring in new expertise and energy into tackling this scourge. “A growing economy helps all of us in our fight against crime.” The Premier concluded, “The Western Cape Safety Plan is constantly being assessed to see how we can more optimally use the scarce policing resources we are expected to work with in our province. But ultimately, I firmly believe creating more jobs reduces crime.”