President Cyril Ramaphosa has outlined ambitious plans to stimulate economic growth and create employment opportunities in South Africa. The President delivered the Opening of Parliament Address (OPA) at the Cape Town City Hall on Thursday where he revealed details of the programme of action for the new Executive.
Following closely behind the recent national and provincial elections, which resulted in no single party gaining a majority, a Government of National Unity (GNU) was formed. This coalition of ten political parties aims to collaborate for enhanced public services and economic progress.
President Ramaphosa outlined the new administration's goals which include accelerating economic growth that benefits all, addressing poverty, protecting workers' rights, stabilising government operations, strengthening public institutions, and promoting a foreign policy centred on human rights, cooperation, and peace.
Key strategies mentioned by the President that will contribute to the administration's goals include attracting investment, supporting small businesses, and streamlining bureaucracy.
As the Government of National Unity, we are resolved to intensify our investment drive, encouraging and enabling businesses to invest in productive capacity. These investments will lead to increased employment creation for unemployed South Africans, especially young people.
Ramaphosa says the government will look to bolster labour-intensive sectors like agriculture, tourism, and manufacturing while also focusing on value-added exports by processing minerals domestically.
To create more jobs for South Africans, we will focus on processing our minerals so that we export finished products rather than raw commodities. We will pursue a smart industrial policy that focuses on the competitiveness of our economy, and that incentivises businesses to expand our exports and create jobs.
As part of efforts to ramp up job creation, the government is set to prioritise youth employment programmes and expand public works initiatives.
Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI)
The Presidential Employment Stimulus (PES), started to help the economy recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, has provided funding for several PYEI programmes and directly created jobs for young people. Over the past three years, the PES has helped generate more than 1.7 million jobs.
The Presidential Employment Stimulus, the Expanded Public Works Programme and other initiatives under the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention have provided income, work experience and skills development opportunities to many young unemployed people.
The main goal of the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI) is to help young people move from education to employment. This is done by working together with different government agencies and community groups to create more job opportunities. The PYEI is part of a larger plan to make big economic changes and create jobs.
We will expand and institutionalise these programmes so that more and more young people can participate in job opportunities and skills development.