The Rand has weakened recently, especially after data on 29 March showed that unemployment had risen to its highest level in more than a decade.  It is sad to read things like that, but it is not as if I have not written about it a lot on my blog.  There are so many uncompetitive laws in South Africa that really make it very difficult for overseas companies to come in and do business in South Africa.  The more unemployment increases of course, the more the ills of unemployment will affect us all – not only a weak economy, but of course higher rates of crime, etc, because many of those who are not employed are going to resort to other options.  The Cabinet issued a statement saying that it is “taking measures to deal with” a high unemployment rate. I wonder what those measures are with official unemployment now at 26,7% in South Africa!  

Unofficial unemployment is of course far higher and it does not seem that any journalist is asking the right questions – let’s talk about the 6 million new jobs that the ANC promised its voters in the last election.  Where are those 6 million new jobs?  We now have unemployment at its highest level in a decade, so far from creating 6 million jobs, we now have less jobs than we had before and unfortunately neither the ANC nor the trade unions have yet started to learn their lessons.  We must hope it will not take them 20 or 30 years to learn, that you need to make conditions in South Africa conducive to business because only business will ultimately resolve the problems of unemployment.  The Government can’t employ everybody and we already have half of the country’s budget, if not more, already going on state employees’ salaries and benefits, and so if anything we need to retrench and fire government employees.  Somewhere along the line the ANC will have to abandon some of its philosophies when it comes to labour law, international companies and to move into the 21st century – it is after all 2016.  Arriving now would be better than never.