Hon Chairperson, hon members, the UDM has, for many years now, advocated for a more assertive government approach to economic policy. The South African economy fails to provide opportunities for millions of adults who are capable of a productive contribution. This directly translates into millions of households that live in abject poverty. They hover at the periphery of suffering.
Increasingly, these disaffected and marginalised masses are showing their frustration through community protests that are a countrywide phenomenon. The indisputable truth is this: Political freedom without economic freedom is not real freedom. We must face this truth before we discover too late that democracy has no legitimacy in the eyes of millions of our fellow countrymen. Thus, unemployment is not merely an economic statistic, but a constitutional and moral issue.
Current and previous economic policies have failed to address the unemployment crisis. There are three broad changes in approach that the UDM has been advocating. Firstly, we need government to invest in real infrastructure on a grand scale. Roads, electricity and water infrastructure barely exist in vast areas of the country, while existing infrastructure in the developed areas is poorly maintained and falling into disrepair. Roads, electricity and water infrastructure are the arteries of an economy. Without these, real economic growth will never happen. Secondly, we need to reduce the countless legislative and bureaucratic obstacles that prevent business, especially new entrepreneurs, from creating new wealth and job opportunities. We must never lose sight of the fact that no amount of redistribution policies will increase wealth and jobs; it merely amounts to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.
Thirdly, we need an education system that prepares learners and students for the marketplace. Thank you. [Time expired.]