Update on progress and achievements for 2012/13
Employment growth
- Employment grew by 327 000 (or 2,5%) by the last quarter of 2012. Since the first quarter of 2011, employment has grown for seven consecutive quarters.
- Employment in the informal sector increased by 112 000, while formal sector jobs increased by 92 000 and jobs in the agricultural sector by 23 000 in the third quarter of 2012.
Job creation
- An allocation of R1,4 billion was made to the Community Work Programme for 2012/13 and out of 171 500 work opportunities to be provided, 114 382 (67%) had been provided by the end of October. Of the total number of work opportunities provided, 71% were allocated to women, 52% to young people and 0,78% to people with disabilities.
- The Department of Communications is implementing a digital migration policy which will result in more than 23 500 jobs created in the manufacturing value chain including installers and warehousing, logistics and repairs.
- It has also established the e-Skills Institute to address the current shortage of and future need for ICT-related skills in South Africa and to ensure that South Africa is an e-literate society by 2030, as articulated in the New Development Plan.
- 5% of the reserves of the Unemployment Insurance Fund have been set aside for social responsibility investment, with a focus on job creation. The Compensation Fund has made
a similar allocation for investment in the healthcare industry.
Empowering the youth
The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) recorded the following youth empowerment statistics, arising from its interventions:
| Young people receiving non-financial interventions |
106 147 |
| Loans disbursed through micro finance, group and SME lending |
R97,2 million |
| Loans issued to micro enterprises, groups and SMEs |
33 975 |
| Number of jobs created |
73 920 |
| Number of business-support consultancy vouchers issued to young people |
7 516 |
| Value of business opportunities sourced and accessed by young people |
R193,7 million |
| Number of youth who served their communities through participation in the National Youth Service |
138 990 |
| Number of youth accessing information through NYDA service delivery access points |
2 066 151 |
| Number of NYDA information dissemination and access points |
205 |
Source: NYDA, April 2009 to April 2011
The Chairperson of the Jobs Fund Investment Committee, Mr Frans Baleni, on 3 December 2012 announced the launch of the Job Fund's third call for funding proposals.
The third call for proposals is a request for applications from initiatives in enterprise development and infrastructure.
- The Enterprise Development window looks for initiatives that develop innovative commercial approaches to long-term job creation in ways that combine profitability with high social impact.
- The Infrastructure window of the Job Fund will co-finance light infrastructure investment projects which are necessary to unlock job creation potential in a particular area. Read more [PDF]
The Department of Labour seeks to register 600 000 work seekers by 2013 using the Public Employment Services (PES). The Department plans to procure a set of buses that will roam the country to register job seekers, part of a campaign to ramp up and keep an up-to-date national data of job seekers. The Minister of Labour, Mrs Mildred Oliphant, introduced the concept of a Jobs Fair as a first step towards building a working relationship with social partners and providing a link between work seekers and potential job opportunities. Read more...
The Mid-Term Review Report [PDF] released on 1 June 2012, indicates that although Government have not created sufficient jobs to meet the demand, significant advances have been made in the coordination of growth strategies, the New Growth Path and stakeholder agreements. Government has made progress with labour absorbing industrial development strategies in manufacturing, mineral products, procurement reform and the Jobs Fund.
Budget for jobs
Job creation remains a central priority of government, Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan said in the Budget Speech for 2012. He provided an additional R4.8 billion over the 2012 MTEF period for the expanded public works programme, bringing its allocations to a total of R77.8 billion.
- The community work programme received an additional R3.5 billion, which gives it a total of R6.2 billion, enabling the number of people employed to increase to 332 000 in 2014/15 from 90 000 in March 2011.
- Working for Water and Working on Fire received an additional R1.1 billion (a total of R7.7 billion) providing for a total of 135 000 jobs over the medium term.
- The non-state sector programme received an additional R345 million (a total of R1.1 billion).
- The National Rural Youth Service Corps received an additional R200 million (a total of R900 million) over the next three years.
- R300 million was added to the arts and culture sector for job creation.
The National Development Plan, released in August 2012, proposes the creation of 11 million more jobs by 2030, among others by expanding the public works programme, lowering the cost of doing business and costs for households and helping match unemployed workers to jobs.
In the mid-year Lekgotla of 26 - 28 July 2011, Cabinet adopted a 12 point implementation plan on job creation, within the ambit of the New Growth Path. This does not mean that other programmes will be halted. These areas are being singled out because they are urgent and effective.
The drive to create jobs
President Jacob Zuma announced in the State of the Nation Address for 2011 that all government departments will align their programmes with the job creation imperative. The provincial and local government spheres were requested to do the same, and 2011 was declared a year of job creation through meaningful economic transformation and inclusive growth.
The 2011 Budget proposed a range of measures to accelerate employment creation over the period ahead, including R9 billion that has been set aside over the next three years for a Jobs Fund to co-finance innovative public- and private-sector employment projects.
The Presidential Job Summit on 18 March 2011 created an opportunity to explore the role that the business sector can play in achieving key deliverables of government’s job creation plans.
This was followed by a Presidential Labour Summit on job creation on 19 April 2011. The parties involved agreed to take these issues forward. In the first phase of discussions, the focus will be on immediate deliverables that can be rapidly implemented, and to lay the basis for deeper dialogue on the systemic and structural issues that would need to be addressed to achieve the goal of five million new jobs by 2020.
In the State of the Nation Address for 2011, President Zuma said that research had indicated that we could create jobs in six priority areas: 
- infrastructure development
- agriculture
- mining and beneficiation
- manufacturing
- the green economy
- tourism.
Government initiatives
- The Gauteng Department of Social Development has launched the first of 20 job centres to address unemployment and poverty among the province's youth.
- Government established a jobs fund of R9 billion to finance new job-creation initiatives over the next three years.
- The Industrial Development Corporation has set aside R10 billion over the next five years for investment in such economic activities with a high jobs potential. This is done through its Gro-E Scheme.
- R20 billion in tax allowances or tax breaks will promote investments, expansions and upgrades in the manufacturing sector. For a project to qualify, the minimum investment must be R200 million for new projects, and R30 million for expansion and upgrades.
- Government will continue to provide financial and non-financial support to small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs), small scale agriculture as well as cooperatives.
- Government is considering merging the three agencies Khula, the SA Micro-Finance Apex Fund and the IDC’s small business funding into a single unit. This will cut administrative costs, avoid duplication and direct more resources to small business.
- The campaign to pay SMMEs on time, within 30 days, is proceeding well. The Department of Trade and Industry payment hotline (0860 766 3729) received about 20 000 calls in the 2010/11 financial year, and the value of payments facilitated was R210 million. Other departments have launched their own initiatives, for example the Re Ya Patala (We Pay) initiative of the Department of Public Works (0800 782 542).
- In communications, television and radio signals will be converted from the analogue platform to the more advanced digital signal which will enable quality pictures and sound. This process will create jobs in manufacturing, packaging, distribution and installation.
- The bid to host the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope has already provided 800 construction job opportunities in the Northern Cape and will create a further 100 jobs in 2011/12.
- Through the combined programmes of business support, enterprise financing and labour intensive activities in the social sector, 1 355 new jobs were facilitated by the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) in 2011/12. A total of 2 039 young people were enrolled on the matric rewrite project and close to 5 000 were provided with career guidance.
- The Department of Public Works has set aside R210 million to hire and train unemployed people to fix potholes, build low bridges and maintain public garden spaces following the recent floods across the country.
- Government has put President Jacob Zuma’s job-creation plans into action by announcing the creation of 120 000 permanent jobs in infrastructure development. The organisations that have been earmarked to create jobs include Eskom and the departments of water affairs and of environmental affairs.
- The Department of Transport will create 70 000 jobs in a R6,4-billion project to repair potholes. The project is part of a new labour-intensive road-maintenance programme called S'hamba Sonke (walking together). A total of R22,3 billion will be spent between February 2011 and April 2014.
- Initiatives are under way to promote rural employment, such as the National Rural Youth Service Corps (NARYSEC), and provide stepped up support for agricultural producers.
- Funding has been allocated in the 2011 budget for renewable energy, environmental protection and "green" economy initiatives.
- Details of a R5 billion youth development subsidy are set out in a discussion paper, Confronting youth unemployment: policy options [PDF].
- The Community Work Programme (CWP) is an innovative offering from government to provide a job safety net for unemployed people of working age. This programme created more than 79 000 work opportunities up to the second quarter of 2011/12, benefitting women and the youth particularly from the poor rural families. In addition, the Human Settlements Programme created over 50 000 direct jobs, 4 653 indirect jobs and 21 446 induced job opportunities.
- The Minister of Labour approved various initiatives aimed at creating employment through training and re-skilling of workers in order to give them capacity to compete in the open economy.
- Productivity South Africa’s social plan. Funds were committed in this financial year towards the Social Plan with the aim of saving a further 20 000 jobs.
- Funding for the training of the Unemployed scheme. The scheme is aimed at developing skills in specific artisan trades with a view to trainees being eventually employed and possessing scarce skills. The training for the Unemployed scheme is done in partnership with the various sector education and training authorities (SETAs).
- Vuk'uzenzele has a regular section with employment news.
Government programmes supporting job creation
- Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) - provides poverty and income relief through temporary work for the unemployed. EPWP includes the Home-Based Community Care and Food for Waste Programmes.
- The New Growth Path (NGP) - aimed at enhancing growth, employment creation and equity.
- the dti provides financial support to qualifying companies in various sectors of the economy. Financial support is offered for various economic activities, including manufacturing, business competitiveness, export development and market access, as well as foreign direct investment.
- Finance for Small Businesses
- Working for Water - eradicates invasive alien vegetation to conserve water and the environment, providing jobs and training to approximately 20 000 people per annum.
- Working on Fire is a multi-partner organisation focused on integrated fire management and veld and wild fire fighting, combined with the need to create jobs and develop skills.
- Working for Wetlands uses wetland rehabilitation as a vehicle for job creation, skills development, and the wise use of wetlands.
- Small Medium Enterprise Development - a grant programme offering financial help to tourism-related projects.
- Tourism Enterprise Development - a grant-making, training and on-going assistance programme.
- The South African Decent Work Country programme - through this programme, the International Labour Organisation and government, organised business, organised labour and the community constituency give support to initiatives aimed at promoting the decent work agenda.
Finding a job
For every job available, you will always have to compete with other job-seekers. This information should help you to find a job, prepare you for the interview and starting the job. Read more...
What does government say about job creation?
What do academics say about job creation?
Econ3x3 is a newly created web forum for critical debate on unemployment and employment, income distribution and inclusive growth in South Africa. It publishes concise, accessible, policy relevant research-based contributions and expert commentaries. It is an initiative of the Research Project on Employment, Income Distribution and Inclusive Growth, which is based at SALDRU at the University of Cape Town and supported by the National Treasury.
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Last modified: 18 February 2013 13:48:19.
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