Can the jobs pact solve South Africa’s unemployment conundrum

By Felicity Duncan.Unemployment remains the cancer at the heart of the South African economy. As Cyril Ramaphosa said at Thursday's job summit, "It diminishes the human ability to eradicate poverty, tackle inequality and working poor. It has a devastating effect on families and communities. It erodes dignity. As you look at unemployed people, they go around like zombies – aimless. They have their dignity destroyed and eroded. It contributes to social problems like poor health, poor educational outcomes and criminality.".Unemployment in South Africa is also something of a puzzle. There are millions of healthy, able-bodied people in the country – a vast natural resource – yet they sit idle. South Africa must find a way to tap into this resource, and I hope Ramaphosa's jobs pact makes it possible..___STEADY_PAYWALL___.China became what it is by moving millions from low-productivity farm work to high-productivity factory work. America educated everyone and enjoyed a hundred years of economic dominance. Let's hope that Ramaphosa's plan does something in that line for South Africa..In Premium today, you can listen to Alec Hogg break down and expose the full story of Nenegate. You can read about Brazil's new form of currency crisis and what it means for South Africa. And you can also read the crazy story of the world's biggest bank heist and how Angola foiled it.

Can the jobs pact solve South Africa’s unemployment conundrum

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