Teboho Thejane
Cape Town - The expanded mandate of the Department of Employment and Labour which is articulated in its five-year Strategic Plan for 2020-2024 provides for a shift from labour market regulation to focus sharply on employment creation and the co-ordination of employment efforts throughout the government and its agencies.
Through the Unemployment Insurance Fund over the past year, we have been able to create more than 14 000 jobs for young South Africans, and we have skilled them with economically relevant skills that enable them to be employed or start-up co-operatives in order to employ other citizens.
This helps in contributing to the economic development and upliftment of society.
This number can and must be increased, and this will be possible with a more agile approach that we believe will create sustainable job opportunities, which is what is needed for our people.
Pursuant to ensuring the continuous creation of new job and growth opportunities for our people we are obliged in our resolve to leverage on innovation, technology and novel approaches to keep up with the demands for jobs in the country.
The fast-changing domestic and international environments require agility from us, which does not come without some degree of risk.
The viability of some job creation innovations and initiatives, especially those with novel approaches, can only be tested once they have been implemented, and this shouldn’t make them any less worthy of being given an opportunity.
We are a responsible Department that does continuous verification, monitoring and due diligence on projects along with our entities.
Risks will always be there, and must be identified and mitigated. This we believe we do well through our contracts and agreements with job creation partners and service providers that can be cancelled at any given time, and where processes can be instituted to recoup funds that have been spent.
Bureaucracy in government should not be used as an excuse to suppress opportunities that can begin to substantively address the problem of unemployment.
Special interest is given to each project that we approve, and which provides an opportunity to impact positively on society and reverse unemployment.
We will continue to work with non-profit organisations, private and public sector institutions as well as all stakeholders and social partners to explore new forms of employment creation initiatives and innovations in our resolve to create sustainable jobs for South Africans.
Thejane is the Department of Employment and Labour Spokesperson
Cape Times
* Do you have something on your mind; or want to comment on the big stories of the day? We would love to hear from you. Please send your letters to [email protected]