Johannesburg – The growth in the number of unemployed South Africans, particularly since the 2008 global economic recession, has had the government worried.
But Collins Chabane, the Minister in the Presidency responsible for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, believes that the unemployment figures in South Africa need to be put into a wider context to reflect the number of migrant workers from neighbouring countries, who flocked to South Africa since 1994.
The minister told SAnews on Friday that this context would help change the debate in South Africa and would help answer some of the difficult questions pertaining to the country’s unemployment.
“[With] South Africa being a developed country… we have a number of people coming to [the country] and as a result, they become part of us. Therefore, when you look into the issue of unemployment, you’ll have to take into account the fact that some countries historically have been dependent on us… When you don’t include them in the equation, it distorts the figures,” Chabane said.
“We should appreciate that South Africa is a growing economy and has to contend with the [high volume] of immigration that is taking place from other parts of the world, not only from Africa but from Asia and everywhere else, and those people influence our numbers.”
Chabane hosted a team of experts in Johannesburg to discuss the latest issue of the Development Indicators, a document government uses to measure development and progress made in implementing policies.
The indicators document is produced from data collected from research institutions in the country and elsewhere. The sixth edition of the document, which the Presidency officially launched earlier this week, lists a series of goals, including halving unemployment to a maximum of 14% in 2014. It reflects both the good news for the country and challenges that still need to be tackled.
The panellists at today’s discussion, held in association with the Mail & Guardian, included Godwin Khosa, Chief Executive Officer at JET Education Services; Dr Khangelani Zuma, Executive Director at Human Sciences Research Council; CEO of South African Banking Risk Information Centre Kalyani Pillay; Dr Miriam Altman, National Planning Commissioner; and Professor Umillo Bob, Dean of Research and Full Professor in Geography at UKZN.
Chabane urged the experts and South Africans in general to debate the report and come up with ideas on how to improve government’s reporting.
“The indicators trace a journey that our country has travelled to redress past imbalances and the progress that has been made to date. We analyse trends for each indicator, outline progress made and point at areas where extra effort is required if we are to achieve our goals,” he said.
Hope for the economy
While the economic environment remained tough, the Development Indicators report was a source of hope that something right was being done.
Compared to 1994, there had been improvements in delivery of basic services, with 95% access to water infrastructure and 83.4% accesses to sanitation and 76% of households having electricity. More than three million people received houses from the state.
“There are many assessments from time to time about how we are doing as government or as a country, but the Development Indicators report is the definitive assessment and it tells us we are on the right track and doing well,” said Chabane.
But the report says although employment has increased since the job losses of 2009, total employment was still lower than it was before the 2008 global economic recession.
Authorities concede that the ability of the South African economy to absorb workers remains a major challenge, with a labour absorption rate of just over 40% at the end of 2012.
Also concerning was the fact that unemployment in the country remains age, gender and racially biased, with young people (16 - 34 years old) making up more than 70% of the unemployed at the end of 2012. More women than men are without work and a larger proportion of Africans are unemployed than their white counterparts.
The good news is that there is stable macroeconomic environment in the country, with inflation remaining within the target range, which has allowed the Reserve Bank to keep interest rates very low for a long period of time.
In the document, officials say low interest rates are helpful in encouraging investment and economic growth. Government’s goal is to transform South Africa’s economy from relying heavily on resources to a more knowledge-based economy. Currently, South Africa ranks 67th in the knowledge-based economy index behind countries like Poland, Slovakia and Malaysia.
While the panel of experts today widely welcomed the report, some cautioned that an inability to address rural development may have serious negative impacts on urban development.
The increase in service delivery has not necessarily impacted as much as it should in rural areas, argued Professor Bob.
“Economic growth seems to be concentrated in urban areas and is not widely spread to rural areas and rural youth are not prepared to enter and succeed in higher education,” she said.
Chabane responded by saying the current administration had in fact introduced a ministry dedicated to rural development to deal specifically with rural challenges. – SAnews.gov.za
