LETTER: A small move can help job creation

Thank you to Duma Gqubule for outlining the plethora of plans, speeches and structures set up by the governing party, sham structures that have clearly created few jobs if any (“Jobs programmes are pointless when the economy is running on empty”, May 9).

Every quarter for the past decade we have shed jobs, particularly among the youth. It is clear that it can’t be business as usual going forward. It is also clear that the ANC will not be able to intervene to change the regulatory structures which, it has to be recognised, are a handbrake to job creation. Economists tell us continually it is the small business sector that should be absorbing the unemployed youth, most of whom have few skills. 

It doesn’t take a genius to understand that we need to restructure our labour laws and regulations to ease the business environment for small businesses. This will cost nothing but will immediately translate to small business owners looking to expand employment opportunities.

It would take the employment & labour minister five minutes to decouple small business from the bargaining councils. This can be done by way of regulation. This small move would have a continuing beneficial effect on job creation. It is my guess that it would create thousands of jobs in the first month.

Michael Bagraim, MP, DA shadow deputy employment & labour minister

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