By OBAKENG MAJE
The North West province has recorded the country’s highest unemployment figures in the First Quarter of 2023. This comes after the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) released by Stats SA recently. The province recorded the highest year-on-year increase of 7.9% in unemployment numbers and the youth are the most affected group.
However, the North West Premier, Bushy Maape said his government has created 6406 jobs, as well as empowered 792 Small and Medium Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) and 484 Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) in the past financial year.
According to Maape, 2060 permanent jobs were created, while 4346 were realised through the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).
“Recruitment of 3293 EPWP beneficiaries and 540 posts were still advertised across all departments, while 1063 employment opportunities were created through projects allocated to 37 contractors.
“At least 1070 permanent jobs were created in the education sector through EPWP infrastructure posts, ECD, HIV/Aids support workers, graduates and contract posts,” he said.
The ANC Chief Whip in the North West Provincial Legislature (NWPL), Lazzy Mokgosi calls for the Youth Enterprise Development (YED) Programme to be upscaled to support young people, who are entrepreneurs in order to unleash their innovation and creativity.
Mokgosi expressed concern about the high level of unemployment particularly among the youth.
“We applaud the recent effort to reach youth in our townships and rural communities through the SA Youth Opportunities Roadshow. This is a brainchild of Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator that was hosted recently in Setlagole in collaboration with the Department of Employment and Labour, National Youth Development Agency, Youth Employment Service (YES) South Africa and the Office of the Premier.
“We welcome the rollout of the accelerated service delivery programme aimed at delivering quality public infrastructure while mitigating the triple challenge of poverty, unemployment and inequality. We call on the provincial government to intensify partnership with the business sector in order to maximise job creation and defuse the ticking time bomb of youth unemployment,” he said.
Meanwhile, Democratic Alliance (DA) provincial leader and Member of Parliament (MP), Leon Basson said: “Decades of ANC failed governance, corruption, fraud, policy uncertainty, cadre deployment and load shedding has collapsed North West, where basic service delivery is erratic at best.
“This sustained programme of destruction by the ANC has now yielded the fruits of their nefarious labours – mass unemployment of 54% as per the expanded definition, the highest in South Africa.”
Basson further said more people in North West are unemployed than those who have a job. He added that, more than a million persons in North West are now left unemployed, desperate and destitute.
“Only 877 000 individuals have the dignity that comes with having a job, earning a salary, and taking care of their families. This is a socio-economic humanitarian crisis that requires urgent intervention to restore governance, deliver basic services, and attract investment that will result in economic development, growth, and job creation.
“The only hope for those who want to work but can’t find a job is to vote DA in next year’s election. A DA-led government in North West will restore governance, will deliver services, will attract investment that will grow the economy that will create jobs,” said Basson.
The Guardian 