Zuma failed to create 500,000 jobs: DA

President Jacob Zuma has failed in his promise to create 500,000 new job opportunities by the end of 2009, the Democratic Alliance said.

This followed the release of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey by Statistics SA.

The survey showed that in the fourth quarter of 2009, the jobless rate was 24.3 percent.

The DA said the unofficial number was 34.1 percent when discouraged work seekers were taken into account. "Instead of creating half a million jobs, the Zuma administration has lost half a million jobs," the DA's Andrew Louw said in a statement.

"In fact, 267,000 jobs were lost during the second quarter of 2009 (April to June), during which time the Zuma administration was taking office," Louw said.

He said from July through to December, a further 395,000 jobs were lost. "In total, then, under the Zuma administration about half a million jobs have been lost, and during the whole of 2009, the South African economy has shed 870,000 jobs."

Though the economic recession had played a significant role in slowing down South Africa's economy, the figures released by Statistics SA demonstrated two things, Louw said.

"First, they bring into sharp relief the president's claim that 500,000 job opportunities would be created by the end of the year. Instead, we have actually lost about that many jobs."

Louw said this raised serious questions about the African National Congress government's inability to understand the employment ramifications of their policies, or the ANC government's unwillingness to be honest with South Africans in their forecasts, or both.

Second, Louw said, the figures were an indictment of the ANC government's ability to respond to the task of creating jobs. "In particular, it is clear-cut evidence of the failure of the ANC government's much touted economic rescue plan in response to the global recession - the layoff training scheme.

"With R2.4 billion allotted for this project it was reported before Parliament in September last year that 12 of the 23 Skills Education Training Authorities (Setas) tasked with training retrenched workers had done nothing in this regard, Louw said.

"The DA has said it in the past and we will say it again. The Setas don't work; instead, we need a system that incentivises on-the-job training and apprenticeships."

Louw said the Zuma administration's "misguided view of appropriate economic intervention" and lack of political will to deal with economic problems was evident and yet again it was the country's working class and poor that suffered the most.

"Every unemployed South African adult is a potential breadwinner who can no longer provide for his or her family and the implications are far reaching."

Louw said, the embarrassment that Zuma was facing from his legion of extramarital offspring should be minuscule in relation to the damning reality that he was responsible for putting thousands of families in jeopardy.

"It is therefore completely unacceptable that government is failing to respond while promising to do so. On the eve of the state of the nation address by Zuma, the DA will be asking the president and the minister of labour why unemployment has been increasing at such a staggering rate - and what, if anything, will really be done about it.