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There is no way that SA's unemployment rate is only 10%.
Picture: iStock
More than 8.2 million people were unemployed in the first three months of this year, 237 000 more than the three months before. But if Capitec CEO Gerrie Fourie is to be believed, most of those don’t count.
Fourie said this week that the unemployment crisis, which swallows more than one in four people in this country (43.15%), is being inflated and “is actually around 10%”.
He claimed this is because official government statistics exclude those who sell amagwinya and others who rent out their backrooms to put food on the table.
He said these hustles are comparable to employment and encouraged entrepreneurship.
While most observers will tell you that small and medium business development should be the priority and entrepreneurship is essential to our economic future, surely we shouldn’t be encouraging bylaw violations in our grand quest to create jobs?
Is suburban decay just job creation?
Both townships and suburbs are battling mushrooming land grabs and room renting as the demand for housing in urban areas continues to grow. Away from official statistics, just driving down the road or turning on the tap will show you how much of a strain this has on already frail infrastructure.
Illegal connections are found on many streets, hastily built rooms are erected without plans, approvals, or necessary skill, and spaza shops are opened with little regard for food safety.
If the millionaire rode down the same street, he might have to dodge the unroadworthy school transport drivers who pack the future generation into a taxi like sardines to maximise profit.
We have laws that prohibit these kinds of “hustles” to protect infrastructure and people’s lives.
Such criminality should be policed, not encouraged.
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Making the informal formal
Fourie has repeated the call for the unemployment stats to include the informal sector, like other developing nations have.
This has been on the request list for 30 years and has been blue-ticked by the government because the sector is so fluid. Defining what sector falls under the informal economy is also problematic and requires regulations. But where do we start regulating and enforcing rules on the taxi industry, or on Tannie Marie selling doilies on Facebook?
And what about those in the illicit market? If the person begging for money at a robot is employed, then does that make the drug dealer sharing the corner employed too?
Giving government a pass
The problem with watering down the definition of employment is that it downplays the government’s failures in addressing inequality and job creation.
There are dedicated ministries to labour, employment, and small businesses, and yet the scourge of joblessness continues.
Instead of holding the government accountable, it gives the impression that SA’s job market is far better than it actually is. This may help corporates like Fourie sell a good image when trying to secure international deals, but it invalidates and silences the poor in the country that these businesses are built on the back of.
Allowing a corporate bigwig to tweak what employment means is as concerning as sending a billionaire to the White House to present government policy.
Sadly, like when Johann Rupert went to visit Donald Trump last month, that has already happened.
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