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The Youth Wage Subsidy is either "dead-in-the-water" or "coming-down-the-line", depending on which Cabinet Minister you believe. The DA will be working to establish what is really going on with this policy that would create an estimated 178 000 jobs for young people over three years.

In a speech delivered in Parliament earlier this month Minister of Economic Development Ebrahim Patel spoke against the policy that was originally announced by the President two and a half years ago, but has since been held up by Cosatu's opposition.

The day before, the Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe had said that Minister Patel would provide clarity on the future of the subsidy, but the Economic Development minister's apparent disdain for the policy gave the strong impression that the initiative would be indefinitely shelved by government.

Yesterday, however, in what appeared to be a direct contradiction, the Deputy President said in Parliament that a final decision on the subsidy will only be made once the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) has completed deliberations on the matter. He went on to explain that “it will happen at the conclusion of those discussions. It may not be in the original form, it may be enriched in a more effective way”.

The DA is puzzled by the mixed-messages coming from the Government. Instead of presenting a consistent and clear line on the matter, the Government have simply confused the public with vastly different ministerial proclamations.

Young South Africa deserve a straight answer not these mixed messages from a governing party that appears to have no real intention of implementing policies to address the youth unemployment crisis. I will be asking parliamentary questions to establish whether the youth wage subsidy remains under consideration or not.