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The Democratic Alliance calls on the provincial department of Economic
Development & Tourism to do more to create an economic climate that is
conducive for job creation. We also need the Office of the Premier to
provide strategic leadership and coordination to ensure that the
Northern Cape becomes a better place to do business in.

Job creation, especially for the youth, is urgently needed in the
Northern Cape. Our levels of youth unemployment have increased by 11%
in only six years. If we do not act today, we will have a social and
financial catastrophe tomorrow.

Youth unemployment has reached its highest levels since 2008 and now
stands at 45%. This is according to the national and provincial labour
market report released by StatsSA yesterday. Earlier research has also
indicated that the Northern Cape has some of the lowest job security
levels in the country.

The Democratic Alliance believes that youth unemployment is one of the
biggest threats to building a truly democratic South Africa. In the
Western Cape, an internship model has been adopted by the provincial
government which has seen the creation of 18 000 opportunities for
young people. The job experience helps them to access more
opportunities in the labour market.

We are emboldened by the spirit of our youth, who remain optimistic.
While almost half of our youth are unemployed, only 6% are discouraged
workers. This is even more remarkable when one considers that
provinces with better levels of youth employment have higher levels of
discouraged workers. Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal have youth unemployment
levels that are up to 10% lower than the Northern Cape, but 12% of
their youth are discouraged.

The youth are there and willing to work. They are simply waiting for
the right conditions to be created.

What is concerning is that women are more likely to become discouraged
than men. It is probably influenced by the fact that black women are
much more likely to be unemployed than any other group. We need to
ensure that women are not being prevented from entering the labour
market.

Issued by DA