ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa promises 5 million jobs

President Cyril Ramaphosa is making a final push to secure victory in the ANC’s strongest province, the Eastern Cape, by announcing a plan to generate five million jobs nationwide over the coming years.

According to Scrolla.Africa The Ramaphosa government is mobilising all available resources, including tapping into the Unemployment Insurance Fund, to fund these employment opportunities. In Gauteng, a scheme has already been launched to create 500,000 jobs.

Unemployed graduates will find employment across 24 sectors, spanning agriculture, IT, construction, engineering, retail, security, hospitality, social services, and many others.

Labour and Employment Minister Thulas Nxesi said: “An initial amount of R15-billion has been budgeted for the expanded Labour Activation Programme roll-out, eventually rising to R23.8-billion, funding permitting.”

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Unemployed youths and graduates would be employed for 12 to 36 months. Nxesi insists the UIF can support massive job schemes without running out of funds.

“The UIF has proven that it is capable of taking strategic measures when required – such as the Covid-TERS benefits – distributing R64-billion to five million laid-off workers and their families during the pandemic while remaining financially sound,” he said

On April 24, President Ramaphosa will be at Buffalo City Stadium in East London to announce his job promises, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the Expanded Public Works Programme. Notably, this venue was previously used by the EFF to launch its Eastern Cape manifesto, where they pledged to double all social grants if elected.

President Cyril Ramaphosa

Ramaphosa’s jobs package comprises:

• Over two million jobs over three years, with the remaining three million created after that.
• Currently, 333 job-creation projects approved for different provinces.
• The immediate absorption of 704,000 beneficiaries.
• 55,000 jobs have already been announced for Gauteng.

The ANC is counting on a larger voter turnout in its key provinces such as the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo to counterbalance any potential loss of votes in fiercely contested provinces like KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, and the Western Cape.

A high voter turnout in these strongholds is crucial for the party to prevent its national support from falling below 50% in the upcoming May 29 election.

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