Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Dr Roy Jankielsohn.
The Free State needs our people to be gainfully employed if the province is going to prosper, and only the Democratic Alliance (DA) has the recipe for opportunities required for prosperity.
The DA celebrates Worker’s Day in the Free State with people who are fortunate enough to be employed and able to provide for their families. Sadly, however, too many of our people in the province remain outside of the opportunity net and trapped in the welfare net.
As the Free State entered 2022, out of a total working age population of 1,9 million people, only 720 000 are employed with 443 000 people being unemployed. Many people in the province have given up hope of employment and have stopped looking for jobs. More than one million of the 2, 9 million people in the province are dependent on social grants. They are supported by a mere 190 363 taxpayers in the Free State who contribute to our national tax base. Businesses struggle to survive and sustain workers amid ongoing corruption and poor services in the Free State.
With a youth unemployment of 67% in the country, many young people living under ANC-run governments will never experience the dignity of permanent jobs in their lifetimes.
The DA has an alternative plan for a DA-run government in the Free State that is based on creating an enabling economic environment through sound infrastructure and good basic services that will create investment-based opportunities for all our people.