BRUTUS MALADA: Why politicians promising jobs are not to be believed
'With workers who come to work late, union members who strike, our youth who can’t even spell, there will be little or no incentive for companies to choose humans over the robot'
The 10 March voter registration weekend was a reminder that election season has started in earnest. Leaders of political parties and activists went all out garbed in party regalia mobilizing people to register to vote. This is the time when politicians make all sorts of promises, creating false hopes in the process. With unemployment so high, it is to be expected for job creation to be at the top of the promises that political parties will be making to win the hearts and minds of voters. Yet, none of them can tell you how they will go about it. In South Africa we fall prey to empty promises because we allow politicians to take advantage of our vulnerabilities. We also have this sense of exceptionalism that makes us think we are immune to global trends. It is exactly this exceptionalism that fooled many to believe that man from Nkandla when he promised to create 1 million jobs in the middle of a global financial crisis. This time we must ask critical questions to politicians when the...
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