Editorial
A recent report by Trading Economics early this year showed that the country’s unemployment rate has worsened. Part of the report stated: “South Africa’s unemployment rate rose to 30.1% in the first quarter of 2020 from 29.1% in the previous period and above market expectations of 29.7%.”
It further said: “It was the highest jobless rate on record since quarterly data became available in 2008, as the number of unemployed people increased by 344000 to an all-time high of 7.1million.”
The emergence of Covid-19 hasn’t made matters easy. Many workers have found themselves jobless following retrenchments, while others have had their salaries and wages cut.
But more disheartening is the recent scandal involving corruption with the temporary employee/employer relief scheme (Ters) payments dished out by the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).
Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi on Wednesday placed UIF Commissioner Teboho Maruping, alongside other senior officials, on precautionary suspension following an investigation into the Ters funds by Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu.
Makwetu said investigations by his office had uncovered a number of irregularities in the procurement process, such as contracts being awarded to companies and businesses who did not have tax clearance certificates, or those who did not comply at all.
This all happened under Maruping’s watch.
Over time, President Cyril Ramaphosa has preached the importance of rooting out corruption at state entities. But malfeasance in this country continues unabated. As a result, many people are despondent and angered by the fact that no tangible prosecutions are taking place.
Entities such as the State Capture Commission have done nothing to instil a sense that the government is serious about ending graft for good.
We as a country and a collective need to get to a point where we show those leading State entities that we have had enough of bureaucrats enriching themselves at the expense of the many families and households struggling to make ends meet.
The only way to do this is by doing what is right at the polling stations and vote for those who put our interests and those of our children first.