The Summit hopes to bring together government, business, labour, and community organisations to advance job creation. The Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs department said that the Jobs Summit will discuss a common approach and work on improving coordination among stakeholders. President Cyril Ramaphosa will today address the Jobs Summit as announced in his 2018 State of the Nation Address.
South Africa aims to raise employment by 11 million to 24 million by 2030 in line with the National Development Plan. The unemployment rate in SA increased to 27.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2018 from 26.7 per cent in the previous period.
The number of unemployed rose by 103 thousand to 6.08 million while the number of employed fell by 90 thousand to 16.29 million.
The Unemployment Rate in South Africa averaged 25.57 per cent from 2000 until 2018, reaching an all-time high of 31.20 per cent in the first quarter of 2003 and a record low of 21.50 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008.
The rising unemployment situation in South Africa is clearly a major issue for the government and today’s Jobs Summitt hopes to at the very least show that the government is taking steps to address the issue.
Whether South Africans have the same sentiment is another story. On Twitter, a number of South Africans voiced their opinions and quite frankly their dissatisfaction at the government. Gareth David said: See #JobsSummit is trending, guess this will be another attempt at wasting taxpayer money.
https://twitter.com/garethdavidza/status/1047713244364853248
Nkululeko Somacala-Manciya said: All I want to know is that how is this summit going to benefit a young black person in (a) rural village in Flagstaff, (an) informal settlement in Phumasilwe and Township in Tembisa?
#JobsSummit all I want to know is that how is this summit going to benefit a young black person in rural village in Flagstaff, informal settlement in Phumasilwe and Township in Tembisa? We can't be having summits that will only benefit the elite and exclude the poor
— Nkululeko (@nkulipp) October 4, 2018
Violet Mdluli said: I hope at Jobs Summit they discuss & scrap away the barriers that prevent the qualified youth from being employed.
https://twitter.com/violetmdluli/status/1047728062798987266
Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant seemed to be upbeat about the Jobs Summitt and told SABC News today that “everybody needs to come together and commit to this process.”
But this did not seem to quell the vitriol and anger some Twitter users had for the summit. Thabiso Taba said: We are a joke as South Africans. I mean how can we rely on a government of pensioners to create jobs for the 50% of young ppl.
https://twitter.com/Thabiso_Taba/status/1047755491240304640
Business Report is calling on our readers to voice their opinion.
Will the #JobsSummit make a difference in your life?
— Business Report (@busrep) October 4, 2018
Source: IOL News
