Cosatu has welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa‘s call for one million jobs to be created in the country over the next three years.
The South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) however is more sceptical.
Ramaphosa said he would make it his personal mission to drop the unemployment figure in South Africa.
Unemployment is currently around 26%, a strong workforce paves the way for a strong economy.
Despite a slight improvement in South Africa’s unemployment figure, many are still unable to find jobs.
The President says he has heard them and he is looking forward to address the issues.
“Unemployment is still very much a visitor not only in our homes, but in our townships and rural areas, and we ask ourselves what is it that each one of us can do to make a contribution to change things for the better,” says the President.
Calling 2018 the year of jobs, he wants to rope in all stakeholders to reach his goal of creating one million jobs in three years.
Ramaphosa says: “Making sure we re-position South Africa, make it attractive for investors to come and invest in our country, and make sure that we get South Africa back to work.”
Cosatu is hopeful, but wants a concrete plan.
Cosatu’s Matthew Parks says: “We need to have a serious plan with serious targets in place. We are looking forward to the presidential job summit that we believe will happen in May.”
Saftu says Ramaphosa is painting himself into a corner with these pronouncements.
Saftu’s Zwelinzima Vavi says: “The rest is going to be nice rhetoric, nice things to say, to give our people false hope that something different is going to emerge out of Cyril Ramaphosa.”
“We have waited for 24 years for a new industrial path, a new growth path, that is bypassed with a changed macro policy, to make sure that we move into a different direction to the one that we have traveled so far, that is not going to happen unfortunately.”
Even though Saftu doesn’t believe Ramaphosa can deliver on his promises, Cosatu says it is satisfied that the President outlined agriculture, forestry, clothing, tourism and aquaculture as key growth sectors.
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