South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday announced that his government would spend US$6 billion to grow the economy and create more than 800,000 jobs over the next three years.
Addressing a joint sitting of parliament in Cape Town where he outlined his government’s much-awaited economic recovery plan, Ramaphosa said the package was part of efforts by the government to ensure a soft landing for the economy in the face of a two-year recession and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have committed $6 billion over the next three years to create jobs through public and social employment, as the labour market recovers,” Ramaphosa said.
The country has lost more than 2.2 million jobs in the second quarter of this year due to the impact of the recession and the Covid-19 pandemic which has killed over 18,000 people since March.
“The employment stimulus is focused on those interventions that can be rolled out most quickly and have the greatest impact on economic recovery.”
The employment stimulus includes direct support for livelihoods and the protection of jobs in vulnerable sectors, he said.
Ramaphosa said the reconstruction and recovery plan was aimed at steering the country back to desirable growth levels in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.
The stimulus package is one of the four pillars that are part of the recovery plan aimed at both creating jobs and supporting the people’s livelihoods, the president told the lawmakers.
The economic recovery plan comes at a time when the country’s economy took an “unprecedented shock” that has left millions of people jobless, and a negative growth rate of 16.4% in the second quarter when compared to the previous quarter.
The president said his government would create 300,000 opportunities for young people to be engaged as education and school assistants at schools nationwide, and more than 40,000 vulnerable teaching posts were being secured in schools which have lost income from fees.
In support of the healthcare system, an additional 6,000 community health workers and nursing assistants would be deployed, as government proceeded with the implementation of the National Health Insurance, the president said.
He added: “Support is being provided to more than 100,000 early childhood development practitioners and to 75,000 small-scale farmers, whose production was disrupted by the pandemic.”
In addition, grant programmes were being expanded in the creative, cultural and sports sector, and funding has been allocated to protect jobs in cultural institutions, such as museums and theatres, Ramaphosa said.
NM/jn/APA