Job creation DA’s No 1 priority - Mashaba

“We want to hear first-hand accounts from job seekers,” DA mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba said after visiting the Randburg labour office .

Johannesburg - If the DA was serious about winning the Johannesburg metro in the local government elections, it would have to meet job seekers every day to help understand their plight and create work, the party’s mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba said on Monday.

“In this campaign we want to hear first-hand accounts of how long people have been unemployed, how many times they have visited labour centres, and how many (if any) job opportunities and interviews they may have had,” Mashaba said in a statement after visiting the Randburg labour office .

“And we are going to tell each and every one of these mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, of our plans to kick-start Johannesburg’s economy, and to create jobs for the thousands of unemployed people.”

Job creation will be one of the main pillars of the various political campaigns for the local polls later this year.

The International Labour Organisation believes that by next year the country’s unemployment rate will rise by 300 000 people.

Mashaba said that job creation would be the DA’s number one priority in Johannesburg.

He said that when meeting the electorate, the DA would explain its plans to place all available Expanded Public Works Programme, community works programme, City of Johannesburg internships and other government jobs on a central database. This would be accessible online and at job centres such as Randburg.

He said a DA-governed Johannesburg would also invite the private sector to advertise their job vacancies on this database.

“People will hear from me and the DA over the coming days and months how the City of Johannesburg led by the DA will offer a conditional subsidy to small businesses which have limited financial means, in order to recruit new workers.

“For too long the City of Johannesburg has only sought to boost the local economy and to create jobs for insiders and connected cronies - yet the DA is ready to transform the city into South Africa’s and Africa’s powerhouse through fair job creation and a commitment to economic opportunities for all,” Mashaba said.

Group Labour Editor