Durban — KZN MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Ravi Pillay said his department would intensify the recruitment of persons with disabilities through speaking to organisations that represent them.
Pillay said this at the KZN legislature on Thursday during the presentation of the first quarter of his annual performance plan.
“People living with disabilities are finding it difficult to access employment opportunities and as a consequence are experiencing high unemployment levels,” he said.
The national target for employing people with disabilities in organisations was 2% of the workforce.
Pillay’s report stated that new appointments were being proposed in accordance with the approved organogram, which will substantially improve compliance with employing people living with disabilities.
On the issue of tackling the fundamental challenges of economic growth, job creation and economic transformation, he vowed to not allow others to define the province in negative terms.
“We will not allow others to define KwaZulu-Natal in negative terms and every stakeholder must rise and work in unison, KZN is rising!” he said.
“The work of the department is at the coalface of our most fundamental challenges, namely economic growth, job creation and economic transformation but it cannot succeed in isolation.”
Pillay said the work of the department covers seven programmes and 13 entities embracing a wide spectrum of activities and priorities. In the first quarter, the department achieved an overall performance rating of 93%.
He said a thriving economy is dependent on an effective collective effort on different fronts – economic policy, safety and security, effective local government delivering basic services, and a real sense of social cohesion and coherence.
“We have to deal with all of these issues simultaneously to achieve the cumulative and meaningful impact we need. We understand that the terrain in which we operate has completely changed. We need to adopt new approaches to ensure that, in the medium to long term, we are able to respond to the identified triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality,” he said.
“The eyes of the people of KZN are rightfully trained on what our department does to build an economy that creates opportunities for all.”
Pillay said the department's blueprint for economic recovery was the Economic Reconstruction and Transformation Plan.
Daily News