Chairperson, during the labour Budget Vote debate on 8 May 2012, I dedicated my address in this House to the seven million South Africans who are jobless. Today, I dedicate these few moments to the more than three million young South Africans who are desperate for work.
There is no doubt in my mind that the most serious threat to our democracy since 1994 is joblessness. The situation is now critical. This is a practical reality. We desperately need to combat youth unemployment and restore a sense of hope in young South Africans.
Today, we can do something positive to change the lot of our young deprived citizens by implementing the youth wage subsidy. Everything I have heard the Minister say here today confirms that this is the way to go.
A job seekers' grant is not the answer, simply because it fails to address the true causes of youth unemployment in South Africa. It is the government's simplistic answer to a complex problem. It will only serve to exacerbate the dependency syndrome.
Hon Patel's statistics, quite ironically, provide a simplistic overview of a complex global economic issue.
There is another statistic that the Minister mentioned. It is about the drop in youth unemployment in the Eastern Cape and rise in the Western Cape. Clearly, people are migrating to the Western Cape, so this does happen. [Interjections.]
We need inclusive interventions that encourage businesses to employ the currently disenfranchised youth. The youth wage subsidy is one of a number of DA proposals that offers young people an opportunity to get a foothold on the ladder of employment. Furthermore, research has shown that the youth wage subsidy is one of the most cost-effective policy proposals designed to combat youth unemployment.
The government must not allow the Congress of South African Trade Unions, Cosatu, to continue to hold unemployed young South Africans to ransom while R5 billion gather dust in the Treasury vaults.
I have said in this House before - there can be nothing more liberating than to be in a job, earning a regular wage or salary. Let us not deny the millions of young South Africans that opportunity.
We must implement the youth wage subsidy in its original form for the sake of our country and not simply placate the youth with a watered-down version.
Chairperson, every moment that we spend discussing, deliberating and arguing about whether we should implement the youth wage subsidy is a wasted moment, a squandered opportunity that merely compounds the unemployment threat in our country.
We need to open all reasonable opportunities for young South Africans to improve their chances in life to avoid the bleak future staring them in the face. The youth wage subsidy is one such major opportunity. We must implement the youth wage subsidy now for the sake of our country. [Applause.]