Prepared text of the speech by Sejamothopo Motau MP, DA Shadow Minister of Energy, in the Debate on the President's State of the Nation Address, February 15 2011:

This country needs entrepreneurs and job creators like we need air to breathe

Mr Speaker,

The growing national consensus that unemployment is the serious threat to this country is encouraging. The biggest challenge, however, is making those jobs. Having a job restores dignity and self esteem. It allows people to support themselves and their families.

According to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, the unemployment rate has dropped overall by 1.3 percentage points to 24 percent between the third and fourth quarters of 2010. Regrettably, the report also shows that the economy has lost 712 000 jobs in the last two years. Furthermore, the survey indicates that more than 6 million South Africans are unemployed, if we use the broader definition that includes discouraged job seekers.

Ke ka moo, Morena Speaker, ke dirago boipiletso go Mmuso wa ANC gore o tlogele go fela o tshepisa MaAfrika Borwa gore mmuso o tla ba direla meshomo. Batho ba lapile ka kudu e bile ba itlhobogile ka baka la go hloka mebereko gomme go a nyamisha gore mmuso o tswelapele ka go ba tshepisha seo o ka se kgonego go se dira.

Seo ke boradia. Ditlamorago tsa mokgwa wo, di ka re bakela mathatha le masetlapelo a go shiisha ge mmuso o sa hlokomele.

[Translation: Therefore, Mr Speaker, I call on the ANC government to stop promising the people of South Africa that the government will create jobs for them. People are desperate and have given up hope because of joblessness and it is disappointing that the government continues to promise what it cannot do. This is treachery. The consequences of this situation can cause serious hardship and misery if the government is not careful.]

Mr Speaker. President Zuma once again made a series of promises last Thursday night - as is his wont on this occasion. I hope that his lofty words will turn into thousands of sustainable jobs, because the country needs them.

However, a mindset shift needs to take place. We need to come to understand that it is not the job of government to create jobs, but rather to create an economic environment that sets every South African free to unleash their potential to create employment for themselves and for as many of us as possible.

This country needs entrepreneurs and other job-creators like we need air to breathe - to create as many small businesses as we can to get the millions of desperate South Africans working.

Double-speak will not help. How is it possible for the government to plead for the creation of jobs and with the same breath contemplate the banning of labour brokers? You cannot create jobs by obliterating a whole industry. This is but one stark example of such unhelpful policy contradictions.

Poverty is choking most of South Africa. Crime compounds it. The antidote to these "enemies within" is gainful employment. We need all our smarts to confound these enemies that have the potential to destabilise our young democracy.

Unfortunately, instead of crafting and implementing imaginative plans to make it conducive for the nation to create the millions of jobs we need, the ANC government and its alliance partners have at times become pre-occupied with banal debates - the debate over mine nationalisation being a case in point. This fruitless haggling creates uncertainty and sends the wrong signals and messages to potential investors.

Anglo American Chief Executive Cynthia Carroll has warned that companies will not invest in South African mines if they are nationalised. Mr Zola Skweyiya, South Africa's high commissioner in London, has said that each time calls are made to nationalise the mines here, his job in the international community to encourage investors to South Africa gets more difficult. These voices should not be ignored.

Amidst all of this talk, unemployment continues to get worse, as thousands of young South African school leavers enter a jobless world of work. Their disappointment and frustration cannot be described without a lump in the throat, or a tear in the eye.

My colleague, Tim Harris MP, has thrown into the president's suggestion box five ideas that could create millions of jobs. Without detracting from what the president said in his State of the Nation address, I again commend them to President Zuma. He should:
 
Firstly, put his full political weight behind the youth wage subsidy he announced this time last year;

Secondly, announce drastic reform of the wage bargaining arrangements;

Thirdly, announce the immediate withdrawal of the four proposed labour bills;

Fourthly, request parliament to undertake an urgent review of all existing labour laws to relieve small businesses from more onerous provisions; and

Finally, intervene in the economic policy stand-off that is developing in the cabinet because of the new Department of Economic Development.

Economists have reached broad consensus on the need for these policies, even if the ANC has not. But we cannot afford to hesitate any longer.

Meneer Die Speaker, dit is ‘n tragiese skande en baie hartseer dat die armes en die werklose mense van hierdie land net voor elke verkiesing met kospakkies gepaai word om hulle stil te hou en hul stem te kry. Dit Mnr die Speaker, terwyl familie lede van die ANC se magskliek bevoordeel word deur omstrede BEE transaksies. Suid-Afrikaners neem kennis van die transaksies en die bevoordeeling van sommiges en sal nie langer mislei word nie!

[Translation: Mr Speaker, it is a tragic shame and very sad that the poor and disempowered people of this country are fobbed off with food packs before every election to keep them quiet and get their vote. This, Mr Speaker, while family members of the ANC's cronies benefit from controversial BEE transactions. South Africans have taken note of these transactions and the benefits certain people enjoy, and they will not be misled any longer.]

Mr Speaker, our country is at the crossroads of success and failure. I - like millions of other South Africans - want to live in a peaceful and prosperous South Africa in which every man, woman and child is free from poverty, disease and crime. Where every South African who needs to work can be gainfully employed.

I do not know whether we will ever achieve this ideal. What I do know is that with the current set of policies on the labour market and job creation, we will not make it. And empty promises will most certainly not get us there. The time for talking is over. We must make the tough choices now, and get South Africa working.

Issued by the Democratic Alliance, February 15 2011

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