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The Democratic Alliance (DA) warmly welcomes the Black Business Council’s endorsement of the proposed youth wage subsidy policy.

It is patently clear that strong consensus from a majority of stakeholders is forming for the implementation of this policy. The DA has advocated for its implementation for 10 years, President Zuma announced support for it in his 2010 State of the Nation Address, South Africa’s second largest union federation, FEDUSA, have expressed support for it and both Business Unity South Africa and the Black Business Council have now also endorsed the policy.

On top of this, a vast majority of South Africa’s youth also support the policy. A TNS survey released earlier this week found that 77% of young people below the age of 31 support the policy.

For President Zuma to not implement this policy is tantamount to allowing the tail to wag the dog.

The facts are clear: The policy will benefit 423 000 young South Africans. Treasury has set up a plan that will work, we’ve got the money to implement the policy and there is overwhelming support for it. The only thing that is holding it back is obstructionism from COSATU.

The time has come for President Zuma to do the right thing and implement the policy. We cannot allow a small clique of COSATU leaders to hold back a policy that is clearly supported by an overwhelming majority of South Africans.