KZN finance MEC, Ina Cronje, stated in her budget speech that KZN that the provincial government will create 1.1M jobs but failed to outline exactly how these jobs will be created. I predict that the only jobs created will be those in the public sector, and a swelling of the government payroll is the last thing we need.
No matter how much the president, his government and his party crow about creating jobs they are never going to accomplish it because they fail understand the problem.
There are four areas of concern;
Firstly the education system is not producing employable individuals, dumbing down the system or fiddling the numbers to get a higher pass rate is not doing anyone any favours, least of all the pupils. We have to bring back the apprentice programs, and have to have technical schools that are going to produce artisans.
Secondly they are allowing the trade unions too much say in policy, unions are preventing unskilled labourers from earning a living from doing menial jobs as no business wants to enter into an employment contract with such a worker and end up finding it hard to let him go once the task is completed. So these unemployed remain unemployed thanks to the trade unions.
Thirdly is the fact that they do not understand that small business creates far more jobs than large businesses do, the proof of this misunderstanding is that the president, in his state of the Nation address, announced an incentive of R20b but it will only be available to companies that invest at least R200m in the economy, this immediately excludes all small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Finally, we come to the draconian labour laws that are being produced by this government. No businessman or woman is going to want to employ anyone under the conditions spelled out in the labour laws of this country, unless they really have a need for that person. Instead of demonising Wal-Mart we should be getting on our knees and thanking them for wanting to invest in our country considering our labour laws.
This government at all levels fails to understand that government does not create jobs, governments role is to create and environment (through legislation) whereby the private sector can create jobs.
As long as they don’t understand the reasons for the high unemployment we are doomed to continue the same cycle.
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