Protocol
It is a pleasure for me to participate in this important occasion – the official opening of a new Labour Centre in Butterworth in the Eastern Cape.
Unemployment – the creation and preservation of jobs and the mitigation of unemployment are the priorities of this government – and is the focus of government's ERRP (Economic reconstruction and Recovery Programme). These tasks are made more difficult by the unprecedented levels of unemployment – currently standing at 34.5% according to the Stats SA Labour Force Survey for the 1st Quarter of 2022 - a slight improvement on the previous Quarter at 35.3%.
Similarly, a 1.9% GDP growth for Quarter One of 2022 gives grounds for cautious optimism – with GDP returning to pre-Covid levels.
The factors behind high unemployment are well-known:
• The economy was already sluggish before the pandemic.
• The lockdowns to curb the spread of Covid-19 came at a heavy price – a 7% fall in economic activity and the shedding of up to 2 million jobs.
• And as economic activity started to recover last year we were hit by the July riots further destroying livelihoods.
• And again, most recently, KZN faced devastating floods which destroyed lives, infrastructure and jobs.
• International events and economic trends have generally not assisted.
Under the current circumstances of high unemployment, the state has to intervene, including via the Presidential Employment Stimulus that has already benefitted some 800,000 South Africans, youth in particular.
From the side of the Department of Employment and Labour, strategically, the Department seeks to:
• leverage its existing programmes to intensify its employment mandate,
• whilst continuing to play a regulatory role in the labour market to promote equitable, safe and decent work, and
• provide social protection to workers through the UIF and Compensation Fund.
In response to the jobs crisis, the UIF has created and saved jobs through investment with the Industrial Development Corporation to the tune of R5 billion over five years. These investments support SMEs (small businesses), black industrialists, women-owned companies and start-ups, as well as preserving existing jobs.
Through the UIF Labour Activation Programme (LAP), the Department contributes to training of the unemployed as part of government initiatives to stimulate the creation of jobs in the labour market.
• Through the Training of the Unemployed programme, the Fund implements projects, with implementing partners, with employment guarantees at the end of the term of the project. To this end, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education has already absorbed over 14,000 participants from one of the projects funded through the Labour Activation Programme.
• The Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (normal TERS) provides support to distressed companies that seek to retain their employees.
• The Business Turnaround and Recovery Programme is funded by the Unemployment Insurance Fund to provide support to enterprises facing economic distress and initiatives aimed at preventing job losses.
Of importance is that the Labour Activation Programme has taken a strategic direction that training of the unemployed should be demand-led and lead to employment at the end of the training period.
In the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period, the LAP has planned for 75,000 participants in programmes that enhance their employability.
The Department's Public Employment Services (PES) branch which drives the implementation of the labour market policies, including the provision of free career counselling, job placing, retraining and up-skilling - strives to create an enabling environment for employment growth.
The Department also actively participates in the digital Pathway Network Management system, which as at January 2022, offered 674,000 job opportunities. Over the two phases of the Presidential Youth Employment Stimulus, 596,000 appointments of school assistants have been made - the single largest youth employment programme in the country, supporting the aims of the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention.
The Department will also extend UIF LAP training projects aimed at creating jobs, particularly for the youth, in the fibre optics, food handling and mixed farming sectors.
Government's existing employment programmes are now aligned to the ERRP.
In terms of the official opening today:
I trust and hope that the new Labour Centre will play an important role in the local communities – in supporting work seekers and also easing the task of accessing the services of the Department of Employment and Labour: particularly: UIF, the Compensation Fund and Public Employment Services – as well as striving to ensure decent work through enforcement of legislation by the labour inspectors.
Thank you.
© 2019 - The South African Department of Employment & Labour