Employment and Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth said on Thursday the sustainable solution to the unemployment crisis could not come from her department and the government alone, but a societal challenge that required a collective approach.
Meth said Statistics SA continued to share disturbing data with the first quarter report of 2024 pushing the national unemployment rate to 32.9%.
“We plan to lead the department in upping the ante pertaining to coordination work of all job creation initiatives, interventions and innovation that are found in various departments, spheres of government and public agencies.
“It is also in our plans to raise the stakes when it comes to collaboration, partnerships, networks within the state, traditional leadership and the private sector,” she said.
Meth made the statement when she tabled the department’s R3.8 billion budget for 2024-25 during a mini-plenary in the National Assembly.
She said the UIF planned to recruit 360 000 unemployed people into skills development and employability enhancement programmes through the Labour activation Programme (LAP).
“This total, when achieved, will bring the overall number of people recruited and trained to 1 640 000 in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period.”
Meth also said her department would monitor the implementation and performance of funded LAP projects. There will also be support to business enterprises through a variety of interventions such as the Temporary Employer Employee Relief Scheme (TERS).
“This support will result in increased productivity of business enterprises and the preservation of jobs and livelihoods. Productivity SA and the CCMA will continue to save jobs in companies that are facing economic distress, utilizing an allocated R413 million.”
“We will build on interventions started by the strengthening efforts, through the work stream on employment in the President's engagements with business and the inter-ministerial committees on employment, skills massification and job creation.”
The UIF LAP has been allocated R23.8 billion, the National Pathway Management Network and Innovation Fund R230 million and the Jobs and Career Fairs R33 million.
Meth also said the department has allocated R21 million to extend the scheme aimed at the employment creation for persons with disabilities to all provinces.
“We have conducted a successful scheme in the past three years, wherein, we funded nine national organisations involved in the promotion of 1 041 employment of persons with disabilities.
“The department has allocated an additional R184 million towards our 13 Supported Employment Enterprises (SEE). These enterprises currently employ 1 056 persons with disabilities.
The SEE will also appoint an additional 150 people in the new financial year.”
The minister said she will unveil a youth deployment project aimed at providing counselling services to work seekers in August.
“This project will employ 335 young people over an eight month period to assist in the provision of career counselling services at our service points across the country.”
The minister said her department has developed a national labour migration policy in line with resolutions of the Ministers of Employment and Labour in the SADC region.
“We will also approach the Cabinet during September 2024 to consider and approve the national labour migration policy and the draft employment services amendment bill for Parliament consideration.
“The policy aims to regulate and set limits on the number of foreign nationals that can be employed in our country.”
She added that she intended to table the draft national employment policy to cabinet to seek approval to commence with the public consultations process.
Meanwhile, Meth said that the department was implementing the diagnostic assessment report and its recommendations in strengthening the UIF and Compensation Fund.
“This will be focusing on stabilising, modernising, and repurposing the UIF and Compensation Fund. Key areas of intervention have largely been focusing on stabilising the funds on critical areas that are customer facing for immediate and impactful results,” she said.
Cape Times