Crisis of jobs in a recession

Kgabo Moabelo talks to StateOfSA about being laid off. Picture: Cedric Mboyisa


ALTHOUGH he is one of the latest retrenchment casualties in the recession-hit South Africa, Kgabo Moabelo (37) from Alexandra township (north of Johannesburg) is optimistic about his future, which is without secure permanent employment.

“I have confidence in myself. I will never go to bed hungry,” says Moabelo, a man originally from Polokwane (Limpopo) who came to the City of Gold for greener pastures. Last month he had to part ways with the company he had worked for for 12 years. Due to the global financial crisis, he had no choice but relinquish his position as the warehouse manager for Replication Technology Group, a Wynberg-based company specialising in the entertainment industry. His duties included being in charge of distribution, allocation, storage and managing some of the company's employees.

Wynberg is a few minutes away from Alexandra, so he used to walk to and from work... thereby saving a substantial amount of money on transport expenses. With his comfortable salary he was able to live in one of Alexandra's decent places. Together with his immediate and extended family they live in a block of flats, which is part of the billion-rand presidential Alexandra Renewal Project. Not so far from his flat, between 11th and 12th avenues, is the famous Joe's Butchery, which is frequented by the country's black diamonds and who's who of the entertainment industry. The same area is surrounded by shacks, for most people in this populous township live in poverty. According to the youth wing of the Greater Alexandra Chamber of Commerce and Industries, the township has almost 60% unemployment rate, of which 40% is the local young people.

As the sole breadwinner, the retrenched Moabelo not only looks after his son and extended family in Alexandra, but he also has to send money back home in Polokwane. He says he's not in a panic mode as he has his retrenchment package to bank on. He adds that he plans to use some of his pension fund payout to start a business in order to generate some consistent income. “I have always known that I had a potential to do it on my own, without having to rely on being employed by someone else forever,” he says. He is in the process of opening an Internet Cafe in the township.

But, Moabelo points out, he is not investing all his package on the venture because he has found himself a business partner. In what is more like a coalition of the retrenched, he is partnering up with a woman who was retrenched earlier this year, in February, by the same company (Replication Technology Group). The woman was euphemistically offered a “voluntary package” as the economic meltdown started taking its toll on the company. Moabelo says he is not bitter about being retrenched. Instead, he states, he sees his retrenchment as an opportunity to grow as an individual and look for creative ways to be self-reliant. “It's not the end of the world for me,” he adds.

Speaking to StateOfSA, Colen Garrow, chief economist at Brait, says the country's biggest challenge is the “massive unemployment rate”. SA has an unemployment rate of 23.5%. It is time, Garrow states, for business and government to think out of the box to create sustainable jobs in the “unconventional environment (recession) we find ourselves in”. He says trade unions must be active in the economy by creating an enabling environment for employment. Garrow stresses that people must skill themselves to be employable because “the economy is bad out there”. He is in support of the Reserve Bank's inflation targeting policy, but he says there must be changes to food and fuel component of inflation targeting. On the brighter side, Garrow believes that we are halfway through recession, and that the economy and markets will stabilise by the end of the year.

According to Statistics South Africa, job losses were recorded in most industries between the last quarter (October-December) of 2008 and the first quarter (January-March) of 2009. The trade industry led the way in the job losses stakes with 143 000, followed by construction with 65 000, then manufacturing with 62 000 and in the fourth place agriculture with 26 000. Stats SA announced in May that South Africa was in a technical recession, the country’s first recession in 17 years. SA's economy, which had experienced some measure of stability and growth in the past decade, had finally fallen victim to the global financial crisis, which has its genesis in the United States of America – the world's superpower.

Despite job losses and retrenchments from left to right as companies are cutting down on costs, President Jacob Zuma has committed his government to creating 500 000 job opportunities through the Expanded Public Works Programme between June and December this year. The current economic downturn notwithstanding, the Zuma administration remains resolute on its goal to create five million jobs during its five-year tenure.

The Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE), in conjunction with Business Leadership South Africa, recently commissioned four papers in their effort to help the country create jobs and weather the economic storm. The joint initiative has put forwards proposals to assist government to achieve its mission of creating five million jobs. The proposals include focusing on the youth, relaxing labour laws, introducing tax breaks, creating special economic zones and employment guarantee schemes. “Seeking to create 5 million jobs while being battered by a global recession is going to require a new boldness from policy-makers,” says CDE executive director Ann Bernstein. Bernstein points out: “75% of the unemployed are under 35 and over 70% of these young unemployed people have never had a job”.

Genetics Analytics CEO Stephan Malherbe, an expert in competition and regulatory economics practice, has made five recommendations to help the country navigate through the economic turmoil. One of his recommendations is that inflation targeting remains in place. “At this point, abolition or perceived weakening would be reckless,” he says. ANC tripartite alliance partners, SACP and Cosatu, have repeatedly called for the scrapping of inflation targeting. Malherbe also recommends that SA “take out insurance in the form of a large and unconditional borrowing facility with the International Monetary Fund”.

Senior citizens celebrate peer Madiba

Former President Nelson Mandela at 91. Picture sourced from The Citizen


IT was an unforgettable day – celebrating the inaugural Mandela Day among Madiba's peers in the township of Ivory Park, not so far from Midrand.

At least 1 000 senior citizens had a time of their lives as they enjoyed scrumptious breakfast, courtesy of the Gift of the Givers Foundation and the Social Development Department. The day was punctuated by laughter and smiles as the elderly wished their world-renowned peer a happy 91^st birthday. President Jacob Zuma led them in singing “For He Is A Jolly Good Fellow”.

The senior citizens wouldn't miss a chance of singing Mshini Wami, but Zuma did not join in the singing. It was so fulfilling being part of the Mandela Day activities with grandmas and grandpas, many of whom bear the burden of being breadwinners (through their pension money) because of the effects of the Aids endemic. There you have it folks... that's how I spent my 67 minutes of the Mandela Day.

Mandela Day - what's your plan?

Madiba shares a laugh with his predecessor FW de Klerk. Thousands of people witness the official opening of the Mandela Bridge in Joburg. Pictures: Mariola Biela and Gavin Barker/backpagepix


SOUTH Africa's first democratically elected President Nelson Mandela is undoubtedly one of the greatest humans that ever lived!

Therefore it is befitting that as he turns 91 on July 18, South Africans and citizens of the world dedicate 67 minutes of their time on Madiba's birthday to make a meaningful contribution to society. Mandela has dedicated 67 years of his life to the improvement of other people's lives and creating a peaceful and an enabling environment in which all human beings can live in harmony.

So fellow beings, I ask, how do you intend to make a difference on Mandela Day?

Keep Niehaus out of public office

Former ANC spokesman Carl Niehaus wants another, another, another chance. Picture Michel Bega


SO Carl Niehaus is on his knees asking for forgiveness.

Ja, this is the same Carl who had to resign in disgrace as the ANC mouthpiece after media revelations of his legendary financial mismanagement and forgery. Carl is bad news for the ruling party. He's a liberation activist-turned-careerist. In my books, he is an epitome of greed. Despite his unquestionable liberation credentials, he has proved to be a liability to the ruling party. He's a man never to be considered for or entrusted with public office. He must consider himself very, very lucky that he's not behind bars for his “forging” ways while he was CEO of the Gauteng Economic Development Agency.

If the ANC decides to forgive the “highly-regarded Comrade Carl” and gives him a deployment, please let him stay away from any public office. The South African government does not need rotten elements like Niehaus. We need people who serve the public, not their bulging stomachs!

Coping with fakes

Political tyro Lynda Odendaal has parted ways with COPE, an ANC breakaway party. Picture: Doris Nzimande


IT was hailed as the party which was ushering in a new era in South African politics. But those who had the eyes to see and the presence of mind saw the Congress of the People (COPE) for what it really was and still is – a bunch of Polokwane rejects with an insatiable appetite for power.

From the time COPE was formed there was nothing alternative about it. The party had no inch of originality. COPE was hell-bent on stealing, hijacking and claiming the policies and the history of the ANC. Even the party’s name, COPE, is some sort of thieving. It was at the “Congress of the People” in 1955 in Kliptown that the Freedom Charter was adopted. Any self-respecting individual cannot say the ANC and its allies had nothing to do with the adoption of the charter.

COPE positioned itself as a “New Agenda for Change”. But it is more like a “new agenda to short-change” the public. The resignations of the party’s second deputy president Lynda Odendaal and head of elections Simon Grindrod come as no surprise at all. Grindrod has finally seen the light. “COPE promised an agenda for hope and change for all South Africans. It is becoming abundantly clear to me that ‘hope’ is in decline, there is no ‘change’ from ANC practices, and the only South Africans setting the ‘agenda’ are current and former ANC members, to the exclusion of all others,” he said.

The former Independent Democrats man also charges in his resignation letter that COPE has perpetrated a great fraud against the electorate. Grindrod deserves no sympathy because his gullibility led him to join COPE, despite his former leader Patricia de Lille’s warning that COPE was merely “ANC lite”.

COPE, just like the pre-Polokwane ANC, does not want to admit internal power wars and factional infighting have beset it. The party’s rabble-rouser, leader Mosiuoa “Terror” Lekota, is apparently under siege, just like his dearest master former President Thabo Mbeki was leading up to Polokwane.

COPE is a very divided house and it would appear that Odendaal and Grindrod were just there to attract the white vote. So much for the much-vaunted racially inclusive COPE.

There was nothing phenomenal about COPE coming into being. Definitely it could have not been an alternative party to the ANC. COPE generated so much interest because it was just before elections and shortly after Polokwane.

Most importantly, the opportunistic COPE capitalised on the prevailing anti-Jacob Zuma sentiment among the middle class and the elite. The party is not new per se, because had it not been for its ANC connection (therefore its parasitic nature) it would have not performed so well in the April 22 general elections.

The only change that COPE brought about in the post-1994 SA politics was that for the first time the ruling party experienced a downward trend (in percentage terms) in an election. Of course, the coalition of Mbekites stopped the ANC from getting a two-thirds majority.

COPE is in decline. It would be no surprise if there could be a further splinter group coming out of the embattled party. Come the 2014 general elections, COPE will get less than its current 30 MP seats.

History shows that breakaway groupings such as United Democratic Movement perform worse than in the previous election. COPE’s grave has been dug… it’s just a matter of when death comes.

This article originally appeared in The Citizen newspaper today (Friday July 10, 2009).

Malema wants his mines

President Jacob Zuma and ANC YL leader Julius Malema at this year's Youth Day celebrations in Ekurhuleni. Picture: Morapedi Mashashe


LOVE or hate him, ANC Youth League president Julius Malema is not afraid to speak his mind, even if it means being at loggerheads with the ruling party.

Never the one to use diplomatic means to make his point, Malema has set the cat among pigeons by calling for nationalisation of mines. ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe shot down Malema's suggestion. But he hit back in a veiled attack on Mantashe, one of the most powerful figures in the current leadership of the ruling party. “As defenders of the revolution we will have a permanent problem with any member or leader of the ANC who opposes the Freedom Charter in an attempt to please the minority owners of mines and mineral resources,” Malema lashed out in a statement yesterday.

In a nutshell, Malema is accusing the ruling party of not being completely true to the Freedom Charter. Ironically, the ANC breakaway party (the Congress of the People) was founded on the basis that the ruling party no longer subscribed to the Freedom Charter. Surprisingly, not a word of support from COPE for Malema's nationalisation of mines! One would have thought that the self-anointed latter-day guardians (COPE) of the Freedom Charter would back Malema right away. It would appear that only Malema, Cosatu and SACP are really into the Freedom Charter.

It's easy to dismiss Malema as just being a loudmouth, but his league is an extremely influential component of the ruling party. It was the Young Lions that led the way in "project dethrone" former President Thabo Mbeki in Polokwane. It was Malema who said Mbeki would be axed in the wake of the damning Judge Chris Nicholson ruling, and indeed the ANC national executive committee gave Mbeki his marching orders, just as Malema had said.

So don't rule out the nationalisation of the mines, because Malema has spoken!

Love thy Zim brothers and sisters

Zim refugees take a nap at the Methodist Church. Picture: Petros Rapule


FIRST things first... credit has to go to Charisse for suggesting that I write about the plight of Zimbabwean refugees in downtown Jozi, near the famous Joburg Central Methodist Church.

As all of you might be aware, our dear police and metro police pounced on the hapless Zim refugees on Saturday and took hundreds of them into custody for “loitering”. The joint operation, as my colleague Ugen Vos points out in his article in The Citizen, was prompted by complaints from business people in the area.

But there is no justification for the alleged law enforcement agencies' alleged brutality and inconsiderate behaviour in the execution of their duties. Tell me, how do you justify arresting a heavily pregnant woman and children? Apparently the ordeal was too much for the expecting mother that she had to be rushed to hospital. This is quite unbecoming behaviour from our men in blue and their traffic buddies, that's if the allegations of cruelty on their part are true.

I hold no brief for anyone, but the Methodist Church, unlike many so-called churches, is in true service of the poor and the downtrodden, as evidenced by the church's caring attitude towards the suffering Zimbabweans. Law officers need to be considerate when dealing with refugees, many of whom had to run away from the sadistic regime of that wonderful megalomaniac “President” Robert Mugabe.

As for our government, please find a decent accommodation for our brothers and sisters from our neighbouring country.

Pikoli is gone - that's that

Sacked NPA boss Vusi Pikoli listens to the proceedings during the Frene Ginwala inquest into his fitness to hold office. Picture: Neil McCartney


I really feel sorry for the axed National Prosecuting Authority boss Vusi Pikoli.

Here was the man who got the boot for apparently doing his constitutional duty of pursuing alleged criminals. He claims that he got into trouble when he persisted in prosecuting National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi, an associate of former president Thabo Mbeki. By the way, Selebi is also friends with people alleged to have connections to the criminal underworld, finish and klaar! Go figure.

In what is seemingly a last kick of a dying horse, Pikoli wants the courts to rule that his dismissal was not kosher. He'll be glad to know that the outspoken man of God, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, is praying for him to retain his job.

But isn't Pikoli wasting his time and energy in fighting what is surely a lost cause? My scant knowledge of law tells me that Pikoli might as well throw in the towel because there is no way he'll have his job back.

There will be no spectacular comeback for Pikoli, you can bet on that. He is so gone... he's just another victim of the ruling party's internal wars. It's time to move on with your life, Pikoli.

Zuma - the people's President

Cedric Mboyisa interviews ANC leader Jacob Zuma at his Johannesburg home last year. Picture: Petros Rapule

HIS well-known personal flaws aside, President Jacob Zuma is purely a people's person and a man with unfeigned humility.

I can clearly remember last year when I had to meet him for a one-on-one interview at his home in Johannesburg. I was a bit nervous and a bit scared because I was about to come face-to-face with a man who had dominated media headlines in negative news stakes.

After all the requisite security checks, I sat down with the man as we got ready to discuss his party, the ANC. Mind you, this was at the time when the “incorrigible” breakaway party leader Mosiuoa “Terror” Lekota was hurling all sorts of insults at the ANC and Zuma. It was also shortly after the “recall” of Lekota's master, former president Thabo Mbeki.

As soon as the interview got underway, my nervousness was gone as Zuma made me feel as though I had known him for years. The way he answered my questions was frank... there was no beating about the bush in his responses. As I pressed him on the Lekota issue, not a bad word about the former ANC chairman escaped his mouth!

We spoke for almost an hour, not once did Zuma adopt a condescending stance towards me. In fact, after the interview he even made time to listen to my snake-hunting adventures during my high school days. Such was the man's willingness to answer all my questions, that it was only after his aides reminded him he had to attend some meeting that we stopped the interview.

If you ever wondered why Zuma, despite his shortcomings, became the country's fourth democratically-elected President, look no further than his humbleness and people-mindedness. He's unashamedly a man of people. He also has a big heart to forgive those who plot against him and besmirch his name.

This, my friends, is why Zuma won the presidential race hands down!