Statistics Show More South Africans Entering The Job Market

A report released yesterday by Statistics South Africa shows a decline in the category described as "not economically active" - from 13,6 million in July 2005 to less than 13,2 million last July. This implies that more people have entered the labour force.

The General Household Survey showed that 348 000 jobs were added to the economy in the same time period. It would be interesting to discover how many of these were in the formal sector and how many in the informal sector. A drive around many of South Africa's cities shows how many ordinary South Africans have been self-employed. Roadside "shopping malls" are becoming the norm and at every building site in Johannesburg some enterprising entrepreneur from the informal sector has set up a small shop to provide snacks and lunch for the workers.

The provision of jobs in our country is not solely the work of government. Our education system must teach entrepreneurship, financial intellegience, critical thinking and basic marketing skills to ensure that every young person leaving school can begin to add value not only to his/her life, but to the broader economy as well. Almost 5 million South Africans are unemployed adding to the burden on social grants, family units and society in general. As more and more young people are added to the working population each year the need for entrepreneurial skills development is increasingly important.

It has become a national imperative to increase South Africa's job market through entrepreneurial development and support to the informal sector. Is this the government's responsibility? Perhaps. But isn't there also validity in looking to the formal sector, corporate South Africa, to assist in this process? I believe so. Ordinary South Africans can also assist by giving time, resources and expertise to those who need it to set up their own enterprise.

There is an old proverb that says that if you give a man a fish you feed him for a day, but if you teach him how to fish you feed him for a lifetime. This may be an old proverb but it certainly rings true for us in South Africa today. We need to be very intentional about how we are teaching the people around us "to fish". It is everyone's best interest that this happens and happens soon.