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The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) new report on unemployment in South Africa highlights what economists, academics and experts already know – that South Africa’s labour dispensation is the primary cause of our jobs crisis.

Some Cabinet Ministers understand this and have spoken out. It is ironic that they were shut down on the very day that the IMF report vindicated their position.

What will it take for government to commit to a pro-growth and pro-jobs economic policy?

The choice is clear: We can reform the labour market, create more jobs and improve the living conditions of millions of people, or we can placate the unions and allow the ranks of the unemployed to keep growing.

We need a new jobs-oriented labour market dispensation; we need targeted programmes, like the wage subsidy, to support job creation; and we need to invest in programmes that grow the economy and lift people out of poverty.