WYNTK: 600,000 jobs already created through the presidential employment stimulus, says presidency

A report detailing progress in the implementation of the presidential employment stimulus has shown that the presidency is well on its way to meeting its target of creating 800,000 job opportunities by the end of the financial year.

According to the report, 600,000 jobs have either been filled or are currently open for recruitment or applications.

President Cyril Ramaphosa introduced the presidential stimulus in October last year. It is designed to respond to the rise in the unemployment rate as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ramaphosa said R100bn would be set aside for job creation in the public sector. R13bn was set aside for the current financial year and R87bn will be allocated over the next three years.

Multisectoral support

Ramaphosa said the employment stimulus will support all vulnerable sectors.

“The presidential employment stimulus supports a range of opportunities through the expansion of public employment as well as job retention in vulnerable sectors.

“In addition to employment opportunities, the stimulus provides crucial support for livelihoods in the creative sector, the agricultural sector and the early childhood development sector,” said the president.

Agriculture and rural development 

The department of agriculture, land reform and rural development has received over 178,000 applications from subsistence farmers seeking government relief. R1bn was set aside for the department to assist 74,000 small-scale farmers.

According to the report, 57% of the applicants were women, 51% were youths and 9% were people with disabilities. Approvals for the relief began in December and over 131,000 farmers pre-qualified.

A complete list of all the departments which have benefited so far is detailed in the report.

340, 000 employed in basic education

In December, basic education recruited 340,000 general and teaching assistants.

General assistants are responsible for maintaining school infrastructure across provinces while teaching assistants are tasked with helping teachers with basic routine work to ensure that more time is set aside for catching up on time lost at the height of the pandemic last year.

The assistants earn a monthly stipend of R3, 500 and are contracted until March 2021.