President Jacob Zuma's ambitious aim to create 500 000 jobs by the end of this year is within reach, says the Minister in the Presidency, Collins Chabane.
Chabane said the goal of creating these jobs had to be seen in the context of the planned "extended public works programme".
"The extended public works programme is a cross-cutting one," he said.
"It includes the social sector, it includes the economic sector, it includes the infrastructure sector. It is possible to create that number of jobs."
| 'It is a government-wide intervention programme' |
Chabane said the programme also included the social sector and care givers who would be employed in the primary health system.
It included many jobs in the public works programme, but did not involve only construction. "It goes wider," he said. "It is a government-wide intervention programme."
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Chabane spoke of the job- creation programme when interviewed on SAfm Radio's After Eight Debate about Zuma's State of the Nation address and the goals of the governing party.
He also spoke of his own personal concerns about the serious shortage of skills in South Africa. "In the first place, for any government or any country, its biggest asset is its human resources."
South Africa, he said, had to break the back of illiteracy and the lack of skills or it would not be able to supply the needs of its sophisticated economy.
"That is for me the central point we will have to attend to."
To meet the needs of a growing economy, South Africa had to fix its education system and ensure a dedicated focus on skills creation, particularly on the technical side.
"We don't have sufficient artisans, sufficient engineers and so on," he said.
Chabane said his own portfolio of performance monitoring and evaluation would cover a wide area. It would cover not only state departments, but also institutions that received funds from the government.
"The monitoring part will deal with institutions that receive public funds, which are supposed to deliver services to the community."
He said, in response to a question, that the SABC would be subject to such monitoring by his ministry.
"The SABC gets money from the purse of the government. I would not say it can be excluded from that."
He said Zuma had talked about institutions that were supposed to deliver services and had not restricted himself only to government departments.
Chabane said his portfolio was a new responsibility.
"It is something we are starting now. We have to build it incrementally.
"It is not a punitive step," he said. "It is a step to try to make sure that the government works efficiently."
He said this new function could not start immediately because problem areas would have to be identified in conjunction with ministers and directors-general. "It must be a collective responsibility."
- This article was originally published on page 7 of Daily News on June 05, 2009
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