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Cape Town - The government is going to spend a total of R150bn in doing its share to create jobs over the next three years, which proves how serious it is about employment and moving the country to a new platform, said Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
Speaking to journalists ahead of delivering his budget speech, Gordhan said it was imperative to structure the economy so that it absorbed jobs.
“We are working on the magical question of where do we absorb large numbers of unemployed people in this economy,” said Gordhan.
Included in the R150bn government will spend on job creation is the R21.3bn for Setas, the R9bn job fund, the R5bn unemployed youth fund, the R5bn skills fund, the R20bn in manufacturing incentives and the R14.3bn for Further Education and Training Colleges.
Gordhan emphasised, however, that job creation policies and funds had to work in an economy with macroeconomic stability.
It would also, he said, require a serious debate about reducing the cost of doing business and creating a climate conducive to more investment in the economy.
Treasury director general Lesetja Kganyago echoed that job creation was a complicated subject requiring painful microeconomic reforms coupled to macroeconomic stability.
Economic growth, he said, was a non-negotiable when it came to creating jobs.
He explained that every 1% of economic growth normally showed a 0.7% rise in employment. If this is applied to the future, it’s clear that government will not reach its targeted five million new jobs by 2020.
This is why, Kganyago says, government’s new focus is on increasing the labour intensity of the South African economy.
Job creation was a complicated combination of painful micro-economic reforms with macro reforms promoting stability.
Gordhan’s main unemployment focus is on the youth, and he called on South Africans to come up with as many ideas as possible to tackle this problem.
“We cannot view the fact that 42% of the young people between the ages of 18 and 29 are unemployed as merely a statistic. We must make sure that our young people can look forward to decent work in productive, competitive enterprises,” said Gordhan.
- Fin24
Speaking to journalists ahead of delivering his budget speech, Gordhan said it was imperative to structure the economy so that it absorbed jobs.
“We are working on the magical question of where do we absorb large numbers of unemployed people in this economy,” said Gordhan.
Included in the R150bn government will spend on job creation is the R21.3bn for Setas, the R9bn job fund, the R5bn unemployed youth fund, the R5bn skills fund, the R20bn in manufacturing incentives and the R14.3bn for Further Education and Training Colleges.
Gordhan emphasised, however, that job creation policies and funds had to work in an economy with macroeconomic stability.
It would also, he said, require a serious debate about reducing the cost of doing business and creating a climate conducive to more investment in the economy.
Treasury director general Lesetja Kganyago echoed that job creation was a complicated subject requiring painful microeconomic reforms coupled to macroeconomic stability.
Economic growth, he said, was a non-negotiable when it came to creating jobs.
He explained that every 1% of economic growth normally showed a 0.7% rise in employment. If this is applied to the future, it’s clear that government will not reach its targeted five million new jobs by 2020.
This is why, Kganyago says, government’s new focus is on increasing the labour intensity of the South African economy.
Job creation was a complicated combination of painful micro-economic reforms with macro reforms promoting stability.
Gordhan’s main unemployment focus is on the youth, and he called on South Africans to come up with as many ideas as possible to tackle this problem.
“We cannot view the fact that 42% of the young people between the ages of 18 and 29 are unemployed as merely a statistic. We must make sure that our young people can look forward to decent work in productive, competitive enterprises,” said Gordhan.
- Fin24
