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The Portfolio Committee on Labour yesterday met with the Department of Labour to discuss the report of the Presidential Jobs Summit, which was held last month.
The summit, which President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in the State of the Nation Address (Sona), was convened by Nedlac (National Economic Development and Labour Council) and other social partners and aimed to address the challenge of unemployment in South Africa.
The committee noted the report and committed to continue monitoring some of the job creation interventions and agreements from the summit, through parliamentary oversight and interactions with the department and related stakeholders.
Social partners in the summit agreed that it is imperative to secure substantially faster growth of the agriculture, mining and manufacturing sectors as these sectors are key drivers of exports and investment.
The social partners also recognise that many of the economic enablers, which have been committed to, are supportive of the growth of firms, cooperatives, SMMEs (Small, Medium & Micro Enterprises) and worker enterprises across all sectors of the economy and are therefore likely to lead to a broad-based improvement in the business environment and conditions for entrepreneurial development
The committee is of the view that South Africa is a developing country and cannot afford to fully liberalise its entire economy, and need to protect some of the industries against competition from outside big industry players.
There was also a view that some of the industries in the country are not in a state of competing globally.
Mr Virgil Seafield, a Deputy Director-General for Labour Policy and Industrial Relations, told the committee that it was estimated that the interventions will create an additional 275 000 direct jobs a year.
Issued By Parliamentary Communication Services On Behalf Of The Chairperson Of The Portfolio Committee On Labour, Mr Lemias Mashile.
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