The Free State Black Business Chamber is appealing to government to relax some of the labour regulations including the minimum wage. It says small businesses can employ more people if some rules can be relaxed.
According to Stats SA, the Free State has recorded employment gains of more than 20 0000 jobs in the second quarter of 2021, though a high unemployment rate is still prevalent.
From the early hours of each morning, the roadsides of Bloemfontein are full of job seekers. Due to the high unemployment rate both graduates, skilled and unskilled are left desperate and scrambling for any employment opportunity.
Many who rely on temporary jobs to put bread on the table say the job market is an uphill battle. Some days they are lucky while on many gloomy days the day goes by without any luck.
Some who have been hustling in the streets for years even sleep on the streets. Some say they will do any job for money or food.
“We are badly affected by unemployment. We spend the whole day without getting anything. I’m from Botshabelo and I have left children there.”
“I have been going up and down for three to four years now without success. I think old people should be released and go home so that there could be opportunities for the youth.”
“It’s difficult to get jobs. We have voted many times but there are no changes, no job opportunities.”
Free State government partners with private sector to address unemployment in the province:
Free State Black Business Chamber CEO, Lucky Motsamai, says access to capital can boost the creation of jobs.
“We need government to assist us in relaxing sitting labour rooms like the minimum wage for us to hire people and cut their wages. As per how we can and also assist us in getting capital and access to capital to allow us to grow our companies and increase our capacity so that we can reach certain markets that we are not able to reach in our current capacity. That will aid more in terms of our company’s growth and in the medium-term allow us to then create vacancies and employment with other companies.”
Economist, Mgcinazwe Zwane believes a lot can be done to create job opportunities in the province.
“Most of our people in our country and in our province particularly are state-dependent. They rely on the state for everything, they don’t want to hassle, they don’t want to come up with initiatives to showcase their talent in terms of creating their own employment. Yes, we even told the state that even our province that look that we have mines that are not being used and then we still believe that they are minerals that can be mined from those mines and the other issue is fishery the other one is farming.
Youth can go and be trained to do those things like boil making to create their self-employment and eradicate this mindset that everything must be coming from the state.”
Meanwhile, the Free State Department of Economic Development and Tourism has admitted that a lack of resources and insufficient COVID-19 relief funds has hindered progress in assisting small businesses in the province.
