Cape Town - The latest African Development Bank data proves President Jacob Zuma will not fulfil his 2011 promise to create five million jobs in 10 years, DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko said on Thursday.
Referring to the African Economic Outlook 2013 report, Mazibuko said: “South Africa’s economic growth prospects now fall in the bottom three in Africa, ahead of only Swaziland and Equatorial Guinea.”
The report forecast GDP growth for South Africa of 2.8 percent.
“The report also shows how South Africa is lagging far behind the continent’s average expected growth rate of 4.7 percent. Lower growth means that the economy cannot create the millions of jobs needed to eliminate poverty and unemployment,” Mazibuko said.
The Democratic Alliance saw this as proof that Zuma's job targets would not be met.
“In fact, since President Zuma took office in 2009, 1.45 million more South Africans have joined the ranks of the unemployed.”
Mazibuko said she would table a motion in the National Assembly for MPs to debate Zuma's “poor handling of the economy and his complete failure to meet his promise of creating five million jobs”.
Sapa