This is the time to put SA first, says Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa says the time has come to put South Africa first.
The president spoke at the opening of the Jobs Summit in Midrand on Thursday afternoon.
The summit, which will take place over two days, has brought together business, labour and government to try and solve the country’s unemployment crisis.
Ramaphosa says one of the ways to create job opportunities is by supporting local products.
“The most direct way for South Africans and South African companies to create jobs is to buy only South African products. This is the time to put South Africans first.
“This is not in an arrogant way, like it’s said elsewhere. We say it with deep meaning and feeling that when it comes to buying local, that is where we want to put our county first,” he said.
Government hopes that the interventions will create close to 300 000 jobs.
“We estimate that the intervention that they have come up with will create an additional 275 000 direct jobs a year. This is over and above the jobs that would have been created without these interventions which was on average above 300 000 jobs over the past few years,” adds Ramaphosa.
It has been estimated that over 9 million people are currently unemployed, with the youth being hardest hit.
Ramphosa says he hopes interventions proposed by the summit will bring down the unemployment rate to at least 6% in 2030.