Gauteng residents have once again been failed by the provincial government, which has promised to create more employment opportunities for them. The unemployment rate in Gauteng has increased to 2 565 000 for the fourth quarter of the 2023/2024 financial year. During the third quarter, the unemployment rate stood at 2 557 000. Currently, there are 502 000 discouraged job seekers in the province.
Despite many promises made by Premier Panyaza Lesufi that there are concrete plans in place to curb the unemployment rate in the province, his interventions, like the Nasi Ispani programme, are clearly not working.
Furthermore, the Gauteng Department of Economic Development has constantly failed to meet its job creation targets, which also has a negative impact on the unemployment rate.
Load-shedding has worsened the situation and is impacting negatively on the job opportunities that can be created by small businesses, particularly those operating in the townships. Many of our businesses cannot operate during load-shedding, and when there are higher stages of load-shedding, many cannot operate for a full day.
The Gauteng Provincial Government’s job is to create a conducive environment to attract both local and the international private sector to invest in our economy. However, if we do not clamp down on corruption, crime, and load-shedding, this will deter potential investors.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has a plan to rescue Gauteng and create a conducive environment that will help create sustainable job opportunities.