President Cyril Ramaphosa is cautiously optimistic about the economic recovery based on the latest employment numbers, which indicate a drop in the unemployment rate for the second quarter of 2021.
Monday morning, the President addressed the nation via his weekly message.
The unemployment rate decreased from 34.5% in the first quarter of 2022 to 33.9%, according to the figures.
“In recent years, South Africans have had to deal with sluggish economic growth and increased unemployment. This has been exacerbated by a deadly pandemic, an attempted insurrection in July of last year, and catastrophic flooding in portions of KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, and North West earlier this year.
“In the midst of all of this, the energy crisis has loomed big, creating economic damage and misery for people and businesses. Nevertheless, despite these significant obstacles, our society and economy have proven resilient. And it appears that our economy is exhibiting signals of improvement,” stated President Ramaphosa.
The numbers also suggest an increase of approximately 648,000 jobs during the same time period, which, according to the President, is encouraging but “much more must be done” to further reduce unemployment.
The President said that the government’s Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan, which emphasizes mass public employment, economic reform, and infrastructure development, is making progress in creating jobs.
“Given that infrastructure expansion and investment is one of the top priorities of our recovery plan, the construction industry’s employment growth is very positive. The budget presented in February proposed a 30% increase in spending on public infrastructure over the next three years, from R627 billion to R812 billion.
“Recently, the Construction Industry Development Board noted a surge in infrastructure projects driven by state-owned firms such as Transnet and Eskom, as well as the metros and the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure,” he explained.
The President emphasized that the government’s structural reform processes are “tough but important” and that these reforms are contributing in the expansion of the economy.
He urged the government, labor, business, and civil society to reach an agreement on these reforms and “the essential trade-offs to achieve our objectives.”
“While our economy recovers and our reform agenda is executed, we will pursue a variety of complementary interventions to support employment creation. In addition to steps that assist the expansion of the private sector, we will increase public employment and provide social protection for the most disadvantaged.
“The increase in employment, together with other encouraging signals of economic recovery, should motivate us to move forward with reforms and implement our Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan in order to unleash investment and growth. President Ramaphosa stated that it should inspire all social partners to work more closely and with greater urgency and purpose to achieve quicker growth and create more jobs. – SAnews.gov.za