Johannesburg - The government's Jobs Fund has spent R3 billion since its launch in 2011 to create 745 jobs - at a cost of R4 million a job, Business Day reported on Tuesday.
The fund has been set up to spend R9 billion over three years to create 150,000 jobs, and is managed by the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA).
“If the country is to solve its unemployment crisis, we have to find new ways of doing new things,” fund spokesman Brian Whittaker was quoted as saying.
The fund was intended to lower the cost and risk barriers that prevented innovation, partnerships and job creation from becoming a reality.
Some 54 projects had so far been approved, but only 27 had been allocated to contractors for implementation, the daily reported.
Once all projects were implemented, 65,000 jobs would be created, according to Whittaker. - Sapa