BusinessLive reports that according to Thamsanqa Mazwai, special adviser to the minister of small business, townships have the potential to drive economic growth in SA.
He said at a seminar on the Department of Trade and Industry’s rural and township industrial economic development programme on Wednesday: "Most people live in townships so the jobs and opportunities must go to where the people are." Twenty-two million South Africans live in townships and informal settlements, accounting for 38% of working-age citizens, but these areas also account for 60% of the unemployed. Unemployment in SA reached historical highs of 27.7% in 2017, although the government is confident that with support, townships and informal settlements are poised to become major job creators. The biggest challenge for economic development in rural and township economies is said to be transforming them from markets to active economies.
- Read this report by Sunita Menon in full at BusinessLive
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