adminJOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s central bank governor Gill Marcus pressed the government yesterday to adopt growth-promoting reforms to stem the country’s unemployment crisis. “It is critical that we focus on growing labour intensive sectors, including mining and agriculture,” she said, while warning of a balance between workers rights and growth.
Recent data shows that a quarter of the country’s workforce are out of work, with youth unemployment at 50 percent. The mining sector, which the biggest private sector employer has been threatening to cut jobs, due to strike related losses. Despite being the largest economy on the continent, South Africa continues to under-perform compared to other fast-growing countries in the region, expanding only by 0.9 percent in the first quarter.
Last year the country registered a meagre 2.5 percent growth, hit by the effects of the post 2008 global financial meltdown and the euro zone recession. Marcus urged the government to introduce measures “to enable low skilled workers to live meaningful lives.” — Sapa.
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