Unemployment chief poll issue in SA

JOHANNESBURG – Andre is white, male and begging at a traffic light – a sight unseen in South Africa just a few years ago.

“I am here every day. Sometimes I leave very late.On a good day I can make up to 80 rand (US$13).It’s difficult to get a job, the government must create jobs for us,” says Andre, who declined to give his surname.Millions of South Africans, mostly black but some white, have no jobs – making unemployment a key issue in the nation’s third democratic poll, to be held today, which also marks a decade of democracy.Most parties claim to have a solution to the scourge affecting between 30 and 40 per cent of the country’s economically active population — and they are trying to woo voters like Andre with their promises.Andre (43) last had a permanent job six years ago when he was employed as a mechanic.Since last year, the divorced father of three has established himself at a set of traffic lights in one of Johannesburg’s plush suburbs, begging for handouts with a board which reads ‘Please, any work or food.Andre’.A few streets away is 33-year-old Jan who, for two rand (30 US cents), offers to tell motorists stuck in the rush hour traffic a joke.He too is out of work and last had a job “several years ago”.Job creation has been a major campaign promise of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), which led South Africa from apartheid to democracy in 1994 and looks set for another huge win at the polls.But the ANC’s pledge to fight South Africa’s unemployment crisis may be hard to fulfil.LEGACY OF APARTHEID EDUCATIONDespite macroeconomic stability, South Africa is battling to generate sufficient jobs, partly because a large pool of the unemployed are also unskilled – a legacy of apartheid education policies that served the black majority poorly.Opposition parties say about one million jobs have been lost since white rule ended in 1994 as the economy was restructured to become globally competitive.But the government argues that two million positions have been created.President Thabo Mbeki’s ANC has pledged an additional one million jobs over five years through public works projects, inviting the electorate to join in “a people’s contract to create work and fight poverty”.It is loosening its purse strings after a decade of fiscal austerity and forecasts its budget deficits rising beyond three per cent of gross domestic product – but given its excellent track record, few analysts see this as a big problem.Not to be out-done, the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) promises “One million real jobs, because South Africa deserves better”.Another opposition party, the United Democratic Party (UDM) reminds voters that “10 years of unemployment undermine the people’s freedom”.NO HOPE FOR UNEMPLOYEDBut analysts are unconvinced and argue the economy’s structure makes it impossible to create one million jobs in such a short period – leaving South Africa’s political leaders faced with a rising tide of angry unemployed.”Neither party (the ANC or DA) has put on the table a policy that gives hope to South Africans who are unemployed that they can expect to find permanent jobs soon,” said Aubrey Matshiqi, an independent political analyst.”If permanent jobs are to be created in the numbers that are required, it seems to me that this is a possibility that will only happen in the distant future, not in the immediate period after the elections, not even in the medium term.”Matshiqi said the ANC’s public works programme would only create short-term employment while the DA’s proposals, which are linked to the deregulation of the labour market, could trigger job losses through the erosion of job security.Labour laws have been cited as one obstacle to employment creation because they are perceived to make the dismissal of workers difficult.Analysts say the job creation exercise has also been frustrated by a skills shortage.”The problem of unemployment is not just a labour market problem, since a large part of those who are unemployed are structurally unemployed,” said Adenaan Hardien, chief economist at asset management firm African Harvest.”They lack skills or have skills which are incompatible to those which are required in the labour market.Because of that, any attempt to deal with this problem needs to be multifaceted.”Low economic growth rate has not helped, while a high crime rate – itself partly a result of joblessness and poverty – may be deterring foreign direct investment inflows.The economy has expanded by an average of 2,7 per cent since 1994 and economists say an annual growth rate of five per cent is what is required – though in an era of corporate downsizing and “jobless growth” even that may not do the trick.Foreign direct investment inflows totalled R5,8 billion last year, down from eight billion rand in 2002.”To a certain extent, the creation of jobs is a function of economic growth.If the economy continues to grow at current levels, jobs are not going to be created in the required numbers,” said Matshiqi.”If in the next five years of our democracy we still have good and positive economic indicators not translating into better social and economic conditions for ordinary people on the ground, the government will have no choice but to revisit the policy choices it has been making over the past decade.”- Nampa-ReutersSometimes I leave very late.On a good day I can make up to 80 rand (US$13).It’s difficult to get a job, the government must create jobs for us,” says Andre, who declined to give his surname.Millions of South Africans, mostly black but some white, have no jobs – making unemployment a key issue in the nation’s third democratic poll, to be held today, which also marks a decade of democracy.Most parties claim to have a solution to the scourge affecting between 30 and 40 per cent of the country’s economically active population — and they are trying to woo voters like Andre with their promises.Andre (43) last had a permanent job six years ago when he was employed as a mechanic.Since last year, the divorced father of three has established himself at a set of traffic lights in one of Johannesburg’s plush suburbs, begging for handouts with a board which reads ‘Please, any work or food.Andre’.A few streets away is 33-year-old Jan who, for two rand (30 US cents), offers to tell motorists stuck in the rush hour traffic a joke.He too is out of work and last had a job “several years ago”.Job creation has been a major campaign promise of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), which led South Africa from apartheid to democracy in 1994 and looks set for another huge win at the polls.But the ANC’s pledge to fight South Africa’s unemployment crisis may be hard to fulfil.LEGACY OF APARTHEID EDUCATIONDespite macroeconomic stability, South Africa is battling to generate sufficient jobs, partly because a large pool of the unemployed are also unskilled – a legacy of apartheid education policies that served the black majority poorly.Opposition parties say about one million jobs have been lost since white rule ended in 1994 as the economy was restructured to become globally competitive.But the government argues that two million positions have been created.President Thabo Mbeki’s ANC has pledged an additional one million jobs over five years through public works projects, inviting the electorate to join in “a people’s contract to create work and fight poverty”.It is loosening its purse strings after a decade of fiscal austerity and forecasts its budget deficits rising beyond three per cent of gross domestic product – but given its excellent track record, few analysts see this as a big problem.Not to be out-done, the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) promises “One million real jobs, because South Africa deserves better”.Another opposition party, the United Democratic Party (UDM) reminds voters that “10 years of unemployment undermine the people’s freedom”.NO HOPE FOR UNEMPLOYEDBut analysts are unconvinced and argue the economy’s structure makes it impossible to create one million jobs in such a short period – leaving South Africa’s political leaders faced with a rising tide of angry unemployed.”Neither party (the ANC or DA) has put on the table a policy that gives hope to South Africans who are unemployed that they can expect to find permanent jobs soon,” said Aubrey Matshiqi, an independent political analyst.”If permanent jobs are to be created in the numbers that are required, it seems to me that this is a possibility that will only happen in the distant future, not in the immediate period after the elections, not even in the medium term.”Matshiqi said the ANC’s public works programme would only create short-term employment while the DA’s proposals, which are linked to the deregulation of the labour market, could trigger job losses through the erosion of job security.Labour laws have been cited as one obstacle to employment creation because they are perceived to make the dismissal of workers difficult.Analysts say the job creation exercise has also been frustrated by a skills shortage.”The problem of unemployment is not just a labour market problem, since a large part of those who are unemployed are structurally unemployed,” said Adenaan Hardien, chief economist at asset management firm African Harvest.”They lack skills or have skills which are incompatible to those which are required in the labour market.Because of that, any attempt to deal with this problem needs to be multifaceted.”Low economic growth rate has not helped, while a high crime rate – itself partly a result of joblessness and poverty – may be deterring foreign direct investment inflows.The economy has expanded by an average of 2,7 per cent since 1994 and economists say an annual growth rate of five per cent is what is required – though in an era of corporate downsizing and “jobless growth” even that may not do the trick.Foreign direct investment inflows totalled R5,8 billion last year, down from eight billion rand in 2002.”To a certain extent, the creation of jobs is a function of economic growth.If the economy continues to grow at current levels, jobs are not going to be created in the required numbers,” said Matshiqi.”If in the next five years of our democracy we still have good and positive economic indicators not translating into better social and economic conditions for ordinary people on the ground, the government will have no choice but to revisit the policy choices it has been making over the past decade.”- Nampa-Reuters