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Fin24 reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa indicated on Wednesday evening at his new Cabinet announcement that the labour department would be expanded to focus on employment.
The department would henceforth be known as the Department of Labour and Employment (DLE). Ramaphosa explained that the change would demonstrate that government was serious about creating jobs. While new Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi has yet to outline the way forward, many expect that government will start to play a far more active role in job creation rather than only focusing on policy. "It remains a mystery of what government will do," economist Lumkile Mondi commented, adding that with official unemployment rate at 27.1%, the biggest challenge facing SA was joblessness. While the department's previous role was mostly in terms of policy and lawmaking, Mondi said he expected the DLE to play a more active role in employment creation. He observed, however, that in his view government's role should not be to create jobs necessarily, but rather to create an "enabling environment" for businesses to thrive, so that they could create jobs. Labour analyst Mamokgethi Molopyane also said government should not be driving job creation and should instead be putting in place polices that created an enabling environment for the private sector to create employment. Molopyane suggested that the DLE might introduce a division solely focused on employment.
- Read the full original of Lameez Omarjee’s report in the above regard at Fin24
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page