Johannesburg - Gauteng residents continue to suffer greatly even after South Africa has been greylisted as food and electricity prices rise sharply, as do rolling blackouts and high levels of crime and corruption.
For the fourth quarter of 2022, our unemployment rate has slightly risen, and there are 599 000 discouraged job seekers and 599 000 more economically active residents.
DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Economic Development, Nicola Du Plessis, said the party would continue to work on exposing criminal acts such as fraud, bribery, and abuse of power that directly impact residents in the province.
“Our unemployment rate appears to be rising, and there is no government intervention to improve the situation.
“We will keep demanding that all government officials found guilty of corrupt activities face the full might of the law.”
She said earlier this year that they raised concerns about corruption in the public sector.
“According to the report by Corruption Watch of 2022, the Analysis of Corruption Trends indicated that in the public sector in Gauteng, corruption was reported in the following categories: 27% are bribery or extortion; 21% are abuse of power; 19% are fraud; 18% are dereliction of duty; and 15% are misappropriation of resources.
“Given our current greylisting, it will become more difficult for our national and provincial governments to attract investors and secure loans to help grow our economy.
“It is clear that the current government is incapable of clamping down on corruption and maladministration, mismanagement of funds. A DA government will ensure that we act immediately on allegations of corruption and bribery in the public sector,” said Du Plessis.
Gauteng residents spoke to The Star yesterday, expressing the impact greylisting will have on the economy, especially for the youth.
Resident Silindokuhle Mncube, 24, said she had been applying for jobs and internships last year and was supposed to have been called by now, but since the country has been greylisted, she doesn’t have hope anymore.
“The internships I applied for last year were supposed to have commenced by now, but no one has been called from those we have applied with.
“And now there’s this issue of greylisting, meaning that there is a high possibility that we might not work this year because I believe most companies will be forced to close down, and some will have to retrench as investors have started pulling away from South African companies.”
She added that the rolling blackouts also had a great impact on job losses, which will add to the rising number of people who are unemployed.
“I really don’t think our country will recover from this; by the look of things, it is only going to get worse. The current government must look for other alternatives to save the country and act fast because Western people will come and claim to save us and then turn on us like they did during apartheid,” said Mncube.
Another resident, Moses Mukwevho, 29, said that though he does not really understand the greylisting, he can clearly observe and conclude that SA is falling apart and needs urgent rescue.
“Unemployment will continue to affect black societies greatly because we are deprived of opportunities, and the system does not favour us.
“The government stated that the requirements for employment were a matric certificate, but when they saw that people were passing matric, they said you needed a tertiary certificate, and when they saw that people were excelling, they said you needed at least two years experience.”
He added that this system really doesn’t make sense, and we might think that we are not oppressed, but I truly believe that we still are, and it has to change.
“This greylist will have a negative impact on the development of the youth, not just on companies and the economy,” Mukwevho said.
The Star