Honourable members, fellow South Africans
The single biggest challenge facing Gauteng is unemployment, the latest figures of the number of unemployed people in Gauteng sits at above 2 million people. Gauteng, once the land of gold, a province many flocked to for economic opportunities has gone backward. Unless something drastically is done, it will soon be the province of unemployment and poverty. Our unemployment rate sits above the national average at 31%.
Honourable members, unemployment in our province is not a natural phenomenon, it is man-made, it is as a result of bad leadership, incorrect policies adopted and a lot of sloganeering with little substance to show. We have an aptly named department of Economic Development that has done very little to develop the economy of the province in order to address the challenges of unemployment and poverty suffered by our people.
If one was to take the annual report of the multitudes of the unemployed and underemployed people of our province, very few would believe that indeed the economy of the province is working for them. Granted, the department has on paper performed well because the bar has been set so low that the department can achieve 94% of its targets when the provincial economy is not growing and unemployment is rising.
The recently released GDP figures indicates that the economy of the country has contracted, mainly due to decline in manufacturing, mining, Agriculture, Transport and communication. Gauteng was once leading in the production of gold thus boosting the provincial economy, but the last few years have seen a decline in the output from the gold mining sector. It is no coincidence that most of our gold mines are in the worst performing municipalities of the province in the West Rand. There is a direct correlation between bad governance and economic output. Gauteng suffers from bad leadership.
We have a serious anomaly in this province, the department that is tasked with economic development is performing “well” with every indicator of development going in the opposite direction. How is it possible to have a department of economic development said to be performing when the economy of Gauteng is not developing?
The department through the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller (GEP) is supposed to be leading entity in enterprise development and support but for a long time it has failed to perform this important function. GEP is more internally focused rather than assisting the many entrepreneurs Gauteng has to offer.
The targets that have been set are so low but they still fail to meet them and, in some instances, suppliers are paid before goods are delivered. The economic future of the province lies in the hands of Small enterprises and it needs an agency or entity that will focus on this important task. GEP continues to fail to propel enterprises, in some instances it is seen as a stumbling block to enterprise development.
Another area of misalignment is the low figure given to GGDA for Foreign Direct Investment and Domestic Direct Investment. The target set are so low that they don’t make a dent to the unemployment crisis facing Gauteng, it is as if the figures are set so low only to ensure people receive their bonuses rather than assisting the people of Gauteng. We must at all times remind ourselves and department officials that neither of us should be here to serve our jackets, we are here to serve the people of Gauteng.
Honourable members, if we all agree that we are faced with an unemployment crisis in Gauteng, we must also agree that the measurement tools for this department should be economic growth and decline in the unemployment rate. The department can never be said to be performing when our people remain unemployed. There should be no bonuses paid if the unemployment rate is still rising. Let’s together work to reduce the unemployment and poverty rate amongst the people of Gauteng.
Ndza Khensa