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The release this week of the Quarterly Labour Survey by Statistics South Africa was once more a harsh reminder of the dire situation that many in the country face, that of unemployment, frustration, poverty and a lack of hope.
The unemployment figures, at well over 30 percent excludes persons who are regarded as having given up on ever getting employed who are estimated to be in their millions which shows that the problem is far bigger, that there’s much more people deprived of an opportunity to earn a living.
Our use of the word ‘deprived’ is deliberate because it counters the notion that the poor are somehow responsible for their own suffering either because of being lazy or unskilled. This perception, ignores a host of important factors when dealing with questions of poverty, unemployment and inequality.
South Africa’s unemployment problem, should not and can never be dealt with as an isolated phenomenon because it is not. It is part a pattern of racialised inequality driven largely by historical realities, in the main apartheid and colonialism through which, for more than 400 years, black South Africans or Africans, were deprived of opportunities in general. During these dark periods, Africans had their movement restricted, they could not own land and or any thing that could be construed as constituting means of production. Alongside the oppression of Africans, the exclusionst system did all it could to prop up whites no matter how incompetent or unskilled they were.
This includes provision of land and implements to white farmers by the state, subsidisation of their firms and many other privileges.
Having made the above observation it is necessary to ensure that present day discourse on poverty and inequality take this into account more prominently than other factors that have been thrown around as contributing factors such as poor governance, corruption and lack of investment amongst others.
To arrive at a more accurate conclusion and not the simplistic notions bandid around by mainstream media and many political parties, the unemployment question should be dealt with strictly as a mere part of a bigger problem along with poverty with the elephant in the room that is inequality as the main driver as well as the force ( inequality ) is itself a direct product of the deliberate oppression and exploitation of one race by another.
Following the 1994 democratic breakthrough, there was hope that the oppressed, would work with their oppressor to facilitate transformation but unfortunately the latter never abandoned their agenda and spent their energies pursuing self preservation instead and undermining transformation efforts at every turn. The agenda referred to here above has largely been achieved with economy of South Africa and the land remaining in the hands the tiny white section of the population while Africans continue to provide cheap labour to keep the economy working. It is against this background that we venture to point out that even if 100 percent was to be achieved, poverty and inequality would persist. This is largely because the private sector ( white as it remains ) continues to pursue an agenda of exclusion which has resulted in many companies preferring less assertive migrants who are more desperate than South Africans and therefore take any jobs regardless of the level of exploitation that comes with it.
To effect true transformation, the democratic state should be deliberate when crafting and implementing policies. It must be the agenda of the state to lift as many black people as possible. This would require courage from who have been voted into public office to not just pursue transformation but to insist on it and to meet the white resistance tow to tow.
It cannot be that the oppressors have the same rights if not more with the victims of their oppression. It is overall economic freedom that the democratic government should pursue relentlessly to ensure that ultimately and hopefully not in 400 years, the black majority may start owning the means of production instead of queuing for jobs
