ATT: THE EDITOR – BUSINESS DAY
Your edition 21^st August 2015

It is now commonly accepted by not only the intellectuals and the economists but also by the rank and file of the ANC South Africa’s ability at this stage to create jobs is sorely lacking.  There are numerous factors holding the government back from being able to not only create jobs but to engender an environment allowing businesses to create those very much needed jobs both in big business and small business.  In fact as the situation worsens the reaction from the ruling party is to strangle the economy even more.  The harsh regulatory environment coupled with some of the most ridiculous laws clearly show most thinking South Africans that the ruling party and indeed the government does not have the ability and the political will to try and stop “the ship from sinking”.  Tourism is just one example which has been almost destroyed by a mere stroke of the pen at the behest of a backward looking government.  The metal and steel industry is likewise just about to be destroyed.

Although our government had accepted the national development plan which has some good in it, this merely remains a plan with very little action.  One thing we can all say is that the ANC over the past 20 years has put together many,  many plans but has seldom implemented them let alone thought about them.  It has become obvious our government is good at plans but very poor at trying to implement anything.  Your correspondent John Kane- Berman has hit the nail on the head when he says that a national minimum wage has not been properly explored.  It’s almost trite to say that when 40% unemployment already exists in the country and when the majority of the workforce is governed by sectoral minimum wages it cannot be functional to interfere with that by insisting on a national minimum wage and hoping for new job entrants.  Kane-Berman goes on to state that 65% of the 15 to 24 year olds are jobless.  This should be added to the fact that Cosatu has stated that if an individual has not found a job within that first five years they will probably never find one.  It is now incumbent upon the electorate to have a careful look at all these promises and hollow plans and to speak up in a loud voice at the polls in 2016.

Michael Bagraim