For South Africa the triple structural challenges of poverty and high unemployment (25% of the workforce is without work, using the narrow definition) and racial inequality will continue to define our socio-economic profile for the foreseeable future unless we make a radical shift in our growth strategy and trajectory. The reality we must face and […]
unemployment
Posted inNews/Politics
ANC’s ideological arteriosclerosis throttles job growth
It’s one of the staples of South African journalism. It plays as comedy but it is actually closer to tragedy. The scenario is a congress of one of the trade unions or leftist political movements. The delegates, uniformly attired in radical chic T-shirts and caps, express solidarity with the exploited working class and declaim that […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Young South Africans still slipping through the cracks
To commemorate the brave stance taken by the youth of 1976, the month of June is dedicated as youth month to celebrate young people in the country — with June 16 used to commemorate the youth of 1976. This year’s celebrations were particularly notable, as South Africa celebrates its 20th year of democracy. The month […]
Posted inNews/Politics
#KnowYourDA BEE pushes nothing new
I was snooping around the archives of the South African Institute of Race Relations during a visit earlier this year, particularly drawn to the boxes on the constitutional negotiations. One of these contained, among other things, the ANC’s position on a constitution for what would later become KwaZulu-Natal, academic and political discussions on federalism, and […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Young people are the majority and should act like it
By Frederik de Ridder In 2009, 23 million people registered to vote, and 18 million voted. In 2014, 21 million people in SA will be between the ages of 18-35 years. Seven million people will be between the ages of 18-24 years and 4 million young people will not be in employment, education or training. Also in 2014, 1 million […]
Posted inNews/Politics
What do we do with another 14000 unemployed?
By Aidan Prinsloo In my previous contribution, I made a fairly simple point: the retrenchments proposed by the big mining companies in South Africa are unavoidable. The only way our mines can offer competitive prices and look after their employees properly is if they move from the outdated and inhumane many people, low-tech model to […]
Posted inNews/Politics
If Brazil can do it, we can
These are not happy times for our country. Political violence is becoming normalised, the strike wave shows no sign of letting up, education remains in crisis and corruption has reached the point where people are making comparisons between contemporary South Africa and Mobutu’s Zaire. And our economic crisis, with mass unemployment, seems more or less […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Africa’s 2040 employment problem
Over the last decade, six of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies were in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, there are troubling indicators that this exponential growth has not resulted in robust growth of “good” jobs. In other words, those offering higher wages and better working conditions – especially for the young. Exacerbated by a delayed demographic transition, […]
Posted inGeneral
White males, naked capitalism and ending economic apartheid
The country watches transfixed as the ANC creaks and groans like a wooden ship trapped in Antarctic ice. The ANC has long kept the lid on things, like some benevolent dictator might have done. But now the ship threatens to break apart. There goes the life boat. People cling to its splintered timbers hoping these […]
Posted inBusiness
Capitalism or socialism? We have no choice
It is not surprising that South Africans have trouble thinking straight. The poor live in a state of anxiety and insecurity, while high crime rates have led to a fortress mentality among the rich. Fear and anger permeate our opinions and shape our politics. The haves persist in the shadow of Zimbabwe’s ruin; the have-nots endure, […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
South Africa’s development paradigm
Development policy in post-apartheid South Africa has traditionally focused on the debate over the superiority of either state-controlled or market systems. Like many other developing world countries before it, South Africa expected that globalisation and the replacement of traditional industries by modern sectors would become a panacea for economic development in our country. Based on […]
Posted inGeneral
Could you handle losing your job?
Have you ever lost your job or worried about being retrenched? How did you handle it? How did you keep going? For some, the loss of a job is too much, as it was for the Cell C employee who committed suicide because he had heard he was about to lose his job. My heart […]