Madame Speaker, 

For the past decade South Africa has been one of the fastest growing emerging markets in the world.  This rising prosperity, however, has largely bypassed our poorest and most vulnerable citizens.  

The trickle of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has not resulted in large scale job creation because many foreign investors have simply purchased existing enterprises. The relatively high rand and "hot" currency flows have damaged our export sector and, in many cases, resulted in closed down factories, it has most affected the life of the people in rural areas. 

In South Africa, women in rural areas have borne the brunt of joblessness.

As recent events have tragically shown, if government fails to address the high levels of rural unemployment today, we will reap the whirlwind tomorrow.   

ANC Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said the xenophobic violence was caused by unemployment, South Africans against Zimbabweans and Mozambicans who barely manage to "eke out a living" in South Africa. We must be tough on the causes of xenophobia.   

Unemployment in the rural areas is likely to continue propelling rural migrants to urban areas in the search for a better life.  This, I fear, could manifest itself in another form of xenophobia: the urban citizens fear that the rural citizens will threaten their employment opportunities. The solution lies in making the oasis bloom in the desert by creating job opportunities in the rural area. 

Whilst some skilled jobs have been created, there are sparse employment opportunities for women with little or no education living in the rural areas. To compound this worsening situation, basic food prices is sky rocketing. It is unaffordable and suffering to the poor.  How can we expect people to cope with the price increase when many of them do not have stable jobs or no job at all? 

Minister, a first-class Industry policy from The Department of Trade and Industry is urgent! 

Thus far industry policy and plans has not been favourable to rural job creation. Current industry policies highlight mainly capital incentive industries, such as, motor, chemical, paper and plastic industry.  

Whilst we support these initiatives and acknowledge that they are important to the development and growth of our economy, the threshold of gaining access into this sector is very high. This is due not only to the huge capital involved, but the comprehensive knowledge and skills required. In most cases, it takes years to attract an investment of a capital incentive factory, the jobs created are limited and the workers need to have an education background. 

Minister, the IFP believes that the Department must consider the demographic characteristics of our population when developing its policy strategies.

Women in rural areas who have little or no formal education are largely limited in the tasks and type of jobs that they can only perform to the labour intensive industry.  

Let us not forget the lion sized contribution women make to society and the economy. Like an iceberg four fifths of it is hidden. Women play a crucial role in the development of our society because they are usually responsible for both raising and educating children. Children are our future. The best investment government should make. To create jobs for the women in the rural area is important! 

We IFP ask: what employment opportunities or initiatives are aimed specifically at rural women and which take their unique circumstances into consideration?  In contrast to capital intensive industries, the entry threshold into labour intensive industries is relatively low.     

Clothing factories or factories for beads and leather handcrafts, for example, can be opened almost everyday by anyone. Furthermore, the capital and size of the factory is flexible because they largely depend on the number of workers employed and the size of the market share.  

Statistic shows that even in the largest and most developed economy in the world, the Unite States, 10% of their population still depends on the clothing and textile industry.  

A strong and aggressive industry incentive policy to attract labour intensive industries is imperative. This is the only type of industry which can quickly absorb high numbers of unemployed and uneducated rural woman in a short period of time. 

Minister, we must act with the fierce urgency of now. We need rapid job creation within 6 to 12 months for the women in rural areas. There is no time to lose. Not even a minute! We have dithered for a decade and put the lives of many people in rural areas in jeopardy.  

The IFP urges the Minister to address this issue by reviewing the Labour Intensive Industry Charter to create jobs for women in rural areas.

Minister, I call upon the Department to stop blaming the labour intensive industry for failing to upgrade its technology. Policy makers must begin to grasp the nature of automation, and the nature of different industries. The nature of labour intensive industry is Man-made.   

Automatic machines can only be used for products that are essentially identical. The motor industry does not, for example, accept orders for cars that are designed by customers. The consumers can only choose the car on their lists to place orders. The components of a car are interchangeable to most brands. The industry therefore can, of course, be upgraded to high speed automatic robots. The flipside is that very few jobs are created.  

I would be interested to know that when DTI talks about upgrading the clothing industry, what do they mean? Do policy makers understand that each order that clothing manufacturers get from customers is unique?  The sewing machines settings are changed according to styles. There is no commonality amongst each order. Factory can only adjust their operation by manpower. Most quality fashion items rely on man-made skills with much simpler machines.    

The fabric used in haute couture design cannot even be cut by an industrial fabric cutter. Only old-fashioned scissors can be used.  Minister I am open to new ideas, but even I cannot see how you can upgrade a pair of scissors!  

Madam Speaker, there is clarion call across the nation for government to increase the pace of service delivery. Not only is the promotion of skills and expertise of the Department staff required. It is even more important that the positions of senior managers up to the post Director General are promoted internally.  They must not be politically deployed.  They must know the department history well. The knowledge that comes with experience is invaluable.   

At the moment, the Director General, the Deputy DG and most of senior managers have 3 year contracts. The period, we contend, is too short to for them to perform fully and too long as a learning period. We cannot have learners on the job all the time.  The DG and DDG play a crucial role because they must carry the torch of the Department's culture from generation to generation. A Minister's decision making is subject to the quality of their advice. The importance of their job's stability and continuity is patently obvious to us all.   

IFP support the Budget, I thank you. 
 

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
Prof E Chang MP: 082 578 5019