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The Gauteng unemployment rate is skyrocketing yet only the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in the province has been reporting on the Tshepo 1 Million programme in its quarterly financial reports.

For the second quarter of the 2021/22 financial year, this department failed to meet the target set under this programme which is meant to provide employment opportunities for our youth in the province.

A target of creating 750 employment opportunities was set by the department but only 442 opportunities were created.

The fact that this is the only department other than the Office of the Premier that reports on targets set for the Tshepo 1 Million programme is a clear indication that Premier David Makhura’s government in the province is not serious about creating a conducive environment for the private sector to invest in our economy.

Furthermore, according to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey published by Statistics South Africa, Gauteng’s unemployment rate is at 37 percent and has been increasing compared to the previous quarters. In the first quarter it was at 33.7 percent, second quarter it was 35.4 percent and now it is 37 percent.

This is extremely worrying considering that Gauteng is the economic hub of the country with abundant resources that can assist in growing the country’s economy and creating employment opportunities.

This shows that Makhura’s administration has failed to create employment opportunities for this province and whatever promises he will make in this regard during his State of the Province Address will remain unfulfilled.

Training our youth and providing our unemployed residents with skills needed to help them seek out employment opportunities that will lead to long-term employment is critical if we want our province’s economy to grow.

The Covid-19 pandemic can no longer be used as an excuse for Gauteng departments not meeting their job creation targets, as this is our new normal.

It is time that we start to embrace our challenges and find innovative ways to ensure that our unemployed residents are given an opportunity to access learnerships, internships and skill upliftment programmes.

The government’s job is not to give our unemployed residents jobs, but rather to create the correct environment through training programmes like the Tshepo 1 Million programme that will enable all our unemployed residents to become employable.

The DA will continue to demand that all departments report on the Tshepo 1 Million programme as this is supposed to be a key driver of employment opportunities in our province. Our people are in desperate need of employment and tired of empty promises that will never materialise.

Issued by Official Leader of the Opposition- Gauteng, Solly Msimanga MPL