Economic freedom still a pipedream for millions‚ says Maimane

01 May 2016 - 14:15 By TMG Digital

The new struggle in South Africa is that for jobs – with one out of three currently unable to find work‚ says Democratic leader Mmusi Maimane. Addressing a Workers’ Day event in the DA stronghold of Cape Town‚ Maimane said while the struggle pre 1994 was to secure workers’ rights‚ the struggle post 1994 was the struggle for jobs and employment.Time for Zuma to have day in court‚ says MaimaneIt is now time for President Jacob Zuma to stop the foot-dragging – which has cost the public millions of rands – and to accept he must now answer for the 783 charges of corruption‚ fraud‚ racketeering and money laundering in a court of law‚ says Democratic Alliance Mmusi Maimane. Political freedom had been attained‚ yet economic freedom was still a pipedream for 8.2 million jobless South Africans. “Everyone has a right to earn a living‚ accumulate wealth‚ live where we want‚ love who we want‚ say what we believe‚ develop our talents and pursue our dreams. But without a job‚ we can never realise these freedoms‚” Maimane said.Reserve Bank asked to investigate banks' dealings with Guptas' OakbayThe governor of the South African Reserve Bank‚ Lesetja Kganyago‚ has been asked to investigate whether banks that had business relationships with the Guptas complied with all the relevant provisions of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act. At a time when so many South Africans were without jobs‚ the country no longer afford to have poorly thought-out laws that made finding a job even harder‚ he added.He said small businesses and entrepreneurs had the potential to be the engine for job creation‚ but South Africa had one of the highest failure rates for start-ups and entrepreneurs.“Making it easier for entrepreneurs to start up and grow their small businesses‚ by cutting unnecessary red tape and regulation‚ is vitally important in order to ensure real jobs are created. Research shows that millions of new small businesses is the only sustainable way to beat unemployment.“Small businesses already employ the huge majority of new workers in the economy. The DA believes that to create five million new jobs‚ we need one million new small businesses‚” Maimane added. He said that amid “job-killing national government policy”‚ where it governed the DA had taken huge strides towards creating an enabling environment for entrepreneurs and small business to thrive‚ so that new jobs could be created...

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