Zuma should 'get real' about jobs

Cape Town - President Jacob Zuma should tackle SA's biggest challenge, that of unemployment, heads on when he delivers his state of the nation speech in parliament on Thursday. He should also make it clear that government itself can't create jobs.

According to political commentator Sipho Seepe, there is a popular misconception that the state can directly contribute to employment. Seepe said government can only develop an environment in which businesses can contribute to job creation.

"The sooner government stops pretending it can create jobs, the sooner the country can move on and talk about how to create a job-creating environment," said Seepe, who heads up the South African Institute of Race Relations.

Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane confirmed on Wednesday that jobs will be a key theme of Zuma's speech.

In spite of government's ambitious job-creation promises, the economy shed close to 900 000 jobs in 2009, with only 41% of the working population (those between the ages of 15 and 64) being employed.

This is lower than the previous year when 44% of the working population had jobs, but the situation mirrors the statistics of 1995, when the figure was 39%.

The 500 000 jobs created annually between 2004 and 2007, when annual economic growth was about 5%, have almost been wiped out.

Considering that economic growth is unlikely to exceed 3% this year, Zuma has to deal with political pressure to resolve unemployment within the confines of a difficult economic reality.

BoE political analyst JP Landman said a 3% economic growth rate is enough to stop unemployment from getting worse, but won't improve it. This implies government will have to redouble efforts to ramp up economic growth.

- Fin24.com