Unemployment is not the issue in South Africa: Economist

Economist Dawie Roodt says he does not believe that unemployment is the issue in South Africa.

Roodt was reacting to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s comments during his reply to the debate on the State of the Nation Address (SONA) where the President reiterated his view that the private sector created jobs.

VIDEO: Ramaphosa replies to SONA debate:

Ramaphosa in his address said that government’s task was to create the conditions for the private sector to grow and create jobs.

Roodt has disputed the suggestion that the presidential employment stimulus helped create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

He says, “No, those are not real jobs, those are 600 000 people that you keep busy. It’s 600 000 people that are waving flags somewhere, 600 000 that are earning sub-par wages, I don’t want that. I want in fact, millions of people that earn much more than what the state is currently paying for these so-called job creation schemes. No, that is not job creation, that is just keeping a lot of people busy. The only way that we can create wealth and jobs in South Africa, is by growing the economy.”

‘Governments creates opportunities’

Economist and CEO of Inkunzi Wealth Group, Owen Nkomo, says it is not government’s job to create jobs.

Nkomo says, “The government’s role is to make sure that the environment under which entrepreneurs and business people operate is conducive for the creation of opportunities and execution of opportunities.”

Nkomo is interviewed in the video below: