Jobs crisis: don't be taken in by the usual promises

The Times Editorial: More than 4.7 million people are without work in South Africa and the number will grow for as long as our leaders prioritise political power over jobs.

According to Statistics SA, the unemployment rate was 25.6% in the second quarter of this year, a 5.7% increase compared with the corresponding period last year.

This shocking figure should be dominating debate. But this is South Africa, where the needs of the unemployed and the poor are remembered only when we have an election.

We have not even spoken about the 35000 people who are too discouraged even to look for work. Their plight, which no organisation is willing to tackle, is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

We should demand from all the political parties that will be campaigning for parliamentary seats next year details of how they intend tackling the unemployment crisis in this country .

The electorate should not be fooled by the extravagant promises that politicians make in the run-up to elections. Promises on which they fail to deliver once having secured for another term their government perks.

It is time for the electorate to ask hard questions when party volunteers visit their homes canvassing for votes.

The fact that 4.7 million people are out of work should be treated as a state of emergency by the government, business and all South Africans.

The social grants we have for the poor, and the money we continue to pump into the social support system, will not stop the anger that is building up in the streets.

South Africa today needs a plan that will get the country working again.

As more and more people lose their jobs, our politicians should remember that unfulfilled promises soon turn into lies, and a lie is hard to sustain.