So who speaks for SA’s unemployed?

Published on:

20 Jun 2014, 10:33 am

Hi there,

Google knows everything. So I'll take it as read that native Americans were first to suggest it's wrong to judge another until you've walked a mile in their moccasins. My own exposure to that wisdom came via Stephen Covey whose magnificent "Seven Habits" book found me in my early 30s. And transformed my life.

This advice has helped me many times. Including on Tuesday when chatting to the couple of bright eyed fellows who search through the rubbish bins in our street ahead of the weekly visit of pick-it-up trucks. The more talkative of the duo told me they look for plastic, especially bottles. Because there's a depot about two hours' walk away that pays R80 for an oversized sack. Some days they manage to get two sacks each. That's R800 in a good week. Or R3 200 in a fully utilised month.

I know mining is a tough business. And that AMCU members believe they are worth every cent of the R12 500 a month they're demanding. But there are a couple of guys I see on Tuesdays who would swap places in a heartbeat. For a fraction of what the miners already receive. Because they – and millions like them – live in the real world. In an economy which has the longest and highest unemployment anywhere on earth at any time in history. Makes you wonder who speaks for people like them?

Best,
Alec