The country’s unemployment statistics have risen from 3.67 million in 1994 to 8.74 million. As government and vested organisations map up practical ways of solving this challenge, ‘experts’ of all stripes are producing what they claim are ‘sustainable’ solutions. However, arguably, none of the suggestions carry more weight than one from the SA Institute of Race Relations (IRR), which has published a 10-point plan to tackle South Africa’s mounting unemployment crisis.
The following are ten suggestions which IRR raises:
- End strike-related violence
- Require secret pre-strike ballots
- Protect property during strikes and pickets
- Limit the scope of protected strikes and pickets
- Stop extending bargaining council agreements to non-parties
- Give people back their right to work
- Allow dismissals and retrenchments to be governed by employment contracts
- Remove new restrictions on temporary labour
Stop fighting the private sector
