The Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen, has pointed fingers at the ANC-led alliance’s implementation of minimum wage legislation as a major factor contributing to the country’s high unemployment rate.
Steenhuisen led a picket outside COSATU House in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, earlier this morning, denouncing what he described as the ANC government’s labour laws detrimental to job creation.
He expressed the DA’s commitment to undo what he termed as COSATU’s decades of failed economic policies and efforts to stimulate growth.
Steenhuisen says, “This unholy alliance talks about the need for a minimum wage to ensure the adequate remuneration of skilled workers and they talk about it as if it’s the holy grail of addressing unemployment in South Africa, but the inflexible minimum wage only acts as a barrier to hiring businesses.”
“When a business cannot afford to pay minimum wage, it cannot afford to hire staff at all – and this means instead of creating jobs for millions of our citizens – it is keeping out of work. We need a system that protects both workers and also understands that we need to give a hand-up to jobseekers in South Africa,” added Steenhuisen.
The DA is at COSATU house today, the scene of the crime of South Africa’s unemployment crisis. The almost 30 years in which the Unholy Alliance between COSATU, the ANC, and the SACP has governed South Africa, has caused record unemployment, and brought misery upon millions. pic.twitter.com/61nCh627G3
— John Steenhuisen MP (@jsteenhuisen) May 2, 2024
To end poverty, we must enable young people to gain work experience and earn a wage!
“We will introduce a Youth Employment Opportunity Certificate. This certificate will allow young people to opt out of the minimum wage.” – @jsteenhuisen
Full broadcast: https://t.co/RXxEWI4qjk pic.twitter.com/o4FtAn2n4R
— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) May 2, 2024
