Labour market woes to worsen

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IN the next year, South Africa’s labour market could take the hardest hit from the country’s dwindling economic growth.

According to accounting and consultancy giant KPMG’s Senior Economist Frank Blackmore, 735 000 additional social grant recipients are expected to this year join the queues at the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) and Department of Social Development.

Furthermore, Blackmore indicated in his presentation on the national budget speech at the Richards Bay Protea Waterfront Hotel on Thursday, that 44% of the unemployed have never worked before and 25% of the total labour force cannot find a job.

‘One quarter of the labour force becomes disillusioned and subsequently stops looking for work.

‘They are then not considered unemployed, and yet they are.’

Also unnerving, is that 51% of the country’s labour supply have not completed matric and 71% of the unemployed is youth between the ages of 15 to 34.

‘Unemployment is the most pressing challenge facing this country,’ said Blackmore.

‘The slow economic growth in 2013 hindered the pace of job creation in the formal agricultural sector.

‘While 5.9 million jobs have been created since 1996, the pace of job creation lags behind labour force growth,’ Blackmore said.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan addressed the labour market strife in his annual budget address on Wednesday with plans to support job creation.

However, of the eight programmes tabled by the minister, five have yet to be rolled out.

These are the National Rural Youth Service Corps, National Youth Service Programme, Special Economic Zones and Skills Development.

‘Unrolled programmes tend to be a recurring issue with government and service delivery, but we can see them as initiatives with potential which the state is looking into,’ said Blackmore.

In the past five years, more than R100 billion was spent on employment programmes, R1 trillion on infrastructure spending and R22 billion on industrial incentives.