There was no time to rest or celebrate on Workers’ Day for politicians, who were hard at work on the public holiday canvassing votes ahead of the May 29 elections.

President Cyril Ramaphosa was at a rally at Athlone Stadium where he assured that the alliance between his ANC, the SA Communist Party and Cosatu was as strong as ever.

On the critical issues of unemployment and poverty, he said government was continuing to work on job creation and making the Universal Basic Income Grant a reality.

Elsewhere on the Cape Flats, DA leader John Steenhuisen in his May Day address in Mitchells Plain slammed the ruling party’s “unholy alliance” that had failed South Africa’s 11.7 million unemployed people.

He blamed the ANC for the current unemployment rate of over 32%.

He also noted that the DA had created “8 out of every 10 net new jobs in South Africa”, and the DA-run Western Cape was the province with lowest unemployment rate.

One of the campaign slogans of the opposition party ahead of the polls has been “the DA works”.

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde and Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis have also been heard chanting the “jobs, jobs, jobs” refrain.

What this messaging perpetuates, however, is South Africans’ reliance on the public and private sectors to create employment for them.

In this stagnant economy, jobs are scarce. Instead of waiting for opportunities, young people must be encouraged to start their own businesses.

They must be educated and empowered to be independent entrepreneurs – from school level.

Government can offer support with subsidies and loans; by opening markets, and by relaxing barriers to entering the market, such as municipal, administrative, labour law and tax compliance.

We need to move away from the welfare and “jobs, jobs, jobs” culture, and develop a “small business, small business, small business” mentality.

The role of government is not to create employment, it is to create an economic environment in which business can thrive.

Leave it to our entrepreneurs to create South Africa’s future jobs and wealth.

* Taariq Halim, Western Cape Regional Editor.

Cape Argus

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