South Africa will rely on “social employment” to create the 800,000 jobs much-needed in the rural communities and townships for the country to recover from the Covid-19 battering of the economy, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday.
This was the gist of the message he announced in parliament recently which would see his government spend a US$6 billion stimulus package to create the much-needed jobs for the youth, women and the vulnerable in society, the president said in his weekly address to the nation from Pretoria.
“We are working from the premise that there is no shortage of work to be done to address the many social problems in our society,” Ramaphosa said.
He said the aim “is to support the considerable creativity, initiative and institutional capabilities that exist in the wider society to engage people in work that serves the common good.”
“This is why each of the jobs and livelihood support interventions is fully funded, with a clear implementation plan,” he said.
The employment stimulus, therefore, was not about vague commitments for some time in the future but about jobs being created right here and now, apart from protecting jobs in vulnerable sectors that have been hit hard by the pandemic, Ramaphosa added.
“Public sector employment is an instrument that can create jobs at scale in the short term while markets recover and able to create social value in the process,” he said.
The president cited the example of the massive public works programme the United States undertook after the Great Depression in the 1930s as an example of making good use of public sector employment.
“This was not just a stimulus but also promoted social participation and inclusion. There are several examples of innovative public employment programmes in the developing world in countries like India and Ethiopia – including here in South Africa.”
NM/jn/APA