When South Africa transitioned from apartheid to democracy in 1994, expectations were high that the country’s economy would boom resulting in prosperity for all.
The situation is untenable, and threatens South Africa’s stability. Indeed, with unemployment remaining stubbornly high and government struggling to reduce poverty and inequality, protests have become commonplace across the country. As Rekgotsofetse Chikane, one of the leaders of the #FeesMustFall protests recently said: “Young people are fighting against systemic economic oppression and exclusion. You cannot have a country with [massive] youth unemployment and think that we are living in a normal economy.”
Undoubtedly, re-doubling efforts to boost economic growth is the first critical step to take if South Africa is to cut the unemployment rate. The contraction in our GDP by 3.2% for the first quarter of this year does not bode well to achieve the goals in the national development plan, which requires average annual GDP growth of 5.4% to 2030. The country needs to explore ways to both train and upskill jobseekers‚ while concurrently driving innovation-driven growth.
Encouraging entrepreneurship and creating a conducive environment to attract investment and allow business to thrive will be key in the drive to address unemployment, poverty, and inequality. Very often South Africa’s policies have had a negative effect on entrepreneurship by raising the cost of doing business which has dampened job creation.
You really should have a look at what Trump is doing. America economy booming. Lowest unemployment rate especially for low skilled workers.