South African Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana said yesterday that the country has taken ‘tremendous’ strides forward in repairing the damage of decades of repressive policies, during the last ten years of democracy.

Speaking at the National and Africa Growth, Development and Investment Programme conference yesterday, Mdladlana pointed out that the ‘tide is turning’, with the most recent unemployment figures showing a decline in the official unemployment rate.

“In the period between March and September last year, 57 000 jobs were added to the economy. This is encouraging, but, of course, we have much more to do,” he said.

He alluded to President Thabo Mbeki’s State of the Nation address, in which he identified three pillars supporting South Africa’s response to the challenge of poverty alleviation and underdevelopment.

“The first is to encourage growth and development of the ‘first’ economy, in other words, the formal economy,” he explained, adding that such growth should be accompanied by the creation of new employment opportunities.

The second pillar, Mdladlana pointed out, is the implementation of programmes targeting the informal economy – the ‘second’ economy.

“In this regard, the President launched the Expanded Public Works Programme recently, and has emphasised the importance of the urban and rural development programmes, as well as increased access to Abet (adult basic education and training) – as some of the initiatives to tackle this challenge,” Mdladlana pointed out.

He added government has also committed itself to continue building a social security net, which will be achieved through broadening access to social and child support grants, as well as the school nutrition programme and the provision of free basic services, such as primary healthcare, clean water and basic sanitation.

In terms of skills and equity, Mdladlana said, interventions need to be directed towards preparing people for new and decent jobs.

“Sectoral strategies are key – growing tourism, clothing and textiles, automotive manufacturing and the like are critical signals for skills development, as many of the skills needed are specific to the industries in which they are located.

“The main challenge in the time ahead is to align our various interventions more closely together – and thereby achieve synergies, which serve our common over-riding 2014 goal of halving unemployment and poverty,” he stated.