The ANC’s Thuthukile Zuma speaking during a political dialogue hosted by ‘The Star’ newspaper at the Joburg Theatre. Picture: Itumeleng English Independent Newspapers
Activist of the ANC and former president Jacob Zuma’s daughter Thuthukile Zuma has urged young people to go and vote and defend their democracy.
Zuma was speaking during “The Star’s” political dialogue at the Joburg Theatre on Wednesday.
“We will get a mandate from the people, we will need no coalition, we will certainly win the elections outright,” said Zuma confidently.
The Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) by Statistics SA (Stats SA) indicates that the number of unemployed persons increased by 330 000 to 8.2 million during the first quarter of 2024.
According to statistics, unemployment has increased to 2 565 000 for the fourth quarter of the 2023/2024 financial year and the majority was youth.
Zuma said the ANC was prioritising the issue of jobs and that they have already begun implementing it.
She said for them it was important that people get to work and were productive so that the economy could grow and that people were taken out of poverty and inequality.
“The first priority as the ANC in their manifesto is getting South Africa into work which is jobs, jobs, jobs. In our manifesto we say we are going to create 2.5 million job opportunities and we have already started that and not waiting for May 29, 2024. As you have seen in Gauteng with the Nasi Ispani programme, which has employed 90 000 people in different types of posts, some of them permanent, some contracts in different types of sectors.”
The Nasi iSpani programme had not been welcomed, especially by opposition parties such as the EFF and the DA.
Last year, EFF leader Julius Malema said once his party won the elections, they would fire all those people hired in the Nasi iSpani programme. The opposition accused Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi of allegedly hiring ANC people in job posts created.
Zuma said saying they will fire the people was a scary utterance.
“We were quite disappointed and fearful when the EFF indicated that they will be firing the people who are hired by Lesufi because that means 90 000 families in Gauteng will be taken into poverty and will lose a breadwinner. It was quite concerning for us, of course the job of the opposition is to oppose the ANC and the progressive things that we are doing in government.
“Nasi iSpani is a progressive intervention by the Gauteng government which saw the unemployment crisis particularly among young people. We are very proud of the initiative. We are sure that when Lesufi comes back as the premier of Gauteng, even more people will be employed,” Zuma said.
The Star
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