President Cyril Ramaphosa has received the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) report on the Framework Agreement adopted at the 2018 Presidential Jobs Summit.
The president convened the summit in October 2018 to address the country’s soaring unemployment rate. The summit brought together government, business, unions and civil society to discuss ways to grow the economy.
The President says the release of the report comes at an appropriate time.
He was referring to the latest figures released by Stats SA this week that show the country’s unemployment rate to be at an 11-year high of 29% in the second quarter of 2019.
Speaking at the event at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand Johannesburg, Ramaphosa says more needs to be done to address the unemployment crisis.
“An unemployment rate of 29% and our current economic trajectory means that the economy is creating jobs at a much slower pace than is required by our economy.”
“And the enormity of joblessness together with low levels of economic growth means that we’ve got to be innovative and we must combine that with our willingness to be as creative as possible to address this crisis because we are essentially in a deep and serious crisis.”
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Minister Thulas Nxesi shares insight on the jobs summit report
