The Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) hosted a jobs fair in Soweto and around the province in an effort to address unemployment. Picture: Bhekikhaya Mabaso / African News Agency (ANA)
I AGREE with Charles Thomas (Letters, 27 Jan) that "tit-for-tat" exchanges should be avoided, but since your good newspaper allows us to exchange views on facts and feelings, let's have a look at the facts about unemployment.
I think we can agree that it wasn't as bad in 1994 as it is now, and there are at least three reasons for that:
1. Unions: Labour law was changed, and became skewed in favour of the worker - this sent a message to would-be employers that there was discrimination against them, which has been proven by unreasonable demands, strikes, and damage to workplaces.
2. Racial quotas - this was anathema to decent employers after seeing the condemnation of apartheid by most of the world, and posed the risk of losing skills for appearance (proven at Eskom). This meant that a lot of businesses (with the potential to grow) kept their employment numbers below 50, which avoided quotas.
3. Large Families - an unpopular reason which often attracts the accusation: "You are insulting our culture", but a quick look at simple arithmetic shows that continuous growth is unsustainable, and just contributes to unemployment.
So maybe the focus should be on RECENT history, which can be fixed?
Or is it easier to blame a lot of dead people than actually consider facts?
Rob Johnston | Tokai
Cape Times
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