ANC's Big Brother approach to running the economy is killing jobs
14 November 2023
The Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for Q3:2023, released today, underscores the intractable nature of South Africa’s unemployment crisis under successive ANC governments. South Africans can either have a ruling party that is up to the task of running a modern economy and forging an environment conducive to job creation, or it can have the ANC back in power in 2024. It cannot have both. That is the lesson to be drawn going into next year’s national and provincial elections.
The national unemployment rate now stands at 31.9%, a 0.7% decrease from the previous quarter. However, on the expanded definition, the unemployment rate still hovers above 41%. So long as the ANC remains in power, the status quo will remain.
The ANC’s Big Brother approach to economic stewardship has ensured that millions of South Africans are destitute and out of work. Small businesses remain hampered by red tape, and the automatic extension of collective bargaining agreements to small and new firms is a jobs-killer. Through the Employment Equity Amendment Act and its associated regulations, the ANC has become increasingly aggressive in its insistence on enforcing racial quotas in the labour market. The Racial Quotas Act will deter investment, sap growth and destroy jobs.
Only a DA-led Government can turn this situation around.