Unemployment crisis

FIGURES from Statistics SA reveal the South African economy is faced with an unemployment rate of 24.6%. The rate of unemployment has reached crisis proportions compared with other countries. Unemployment is a virus destroying our communities. It is one of the main factors behind crime, gangsterism, drug abuse, violence against women and children. Some government interventions, like the Expanded Public Works Programme, have fallen short in addressing the problem. We need inward-looking industrialisation that will produce a domestic market and create many jobs. The second approach will be for the government to declare a national emergency to deal with the unemployment crisis. If the right to work can be included in the constitution as a basic human right, it would concentrate the minds of government, business and civil society on solving this problem. Mkhuseli Mtsila, Zwide