Upheaval in Cosatu may be the right time to confront the difficult choices we face to create jobs for a low-skills workforce in a hi-tech economy, writes Thabang Motsohi THE latest gross domestic product numbers have confirmed that our economic growth is insufficient to make any dent in the unemployment numbers.At the heart of the problem is the uncomfortable reality that the majority of the unemployed are unskilled and yet we are progressively moving towards a hi-tech and high-skills economy.Mining has historically provided the employment opportunities for this labour segment and contraction in that sector over the years has presented us with special challenges.We need to accept the reality that strategically the way to go is low-wage mass employment opportunities in manufacturing — but this puts us in direct competition with low-cost competitors in the East and will always meet with resistance from the labour component in the ruling alliance, which insists on decent wages and dece...
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