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South Africa: BUSA to Support Govt's Antipoverty Programmes
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BuaNews (Tshwane)
25 April 2008
Posted to the web 25 April 2008
Bathandwa Mbola
Pretoria
Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) has reaffirmed its commitment to help governments' antipoverty programmes to ensure socio-economic goals for 2014 are turned into a reality.
BUSA was reacting to the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (Asgi-SA) and Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) annual reports released this week.
The organisation on Thursday said that since the implementation of the programmes, it has thrown its weight behind them to promote growth, create employment and alleviate poverty.
"BUSA is therefore currently examining in what additional ways business can assist in the formulation and implementation of a fully-fledged antipoverty programme in the period ahead."
The organisation highlighted that there was much unfinished business on the agenda of Asgi-SA.
However, it noted with approval the extent to which the key constraints on South Africa's economic performance were being addressed, especially in infrastructural investment.
The report indicated some of the key constraints which included the capacity of the national infrastructure system; a shortage of skills in key sectors; poor international competitiveness of manufacturing and tradable services; the relative volatility of the Rand; and a regulatory environment which was not conducive to small and medium-sized business.
"BUSA believes that, provided South Africa improves the quality, certainty and implementation of its policies through Asgi-SA, the country will maintain a positive environment in which enterprise can thrive and expand."
Also highlighted as a focus area for development was South Africa's second economy, by targeting small scale entrepreneurs who make arts and crafts, were involved in tourism activities, and were etching out a living for themselves through informal trade.
Together with other policy measures, which needed to be speedily implemented, Asgi-SA remained a major focus for government and other key stakeholders in the economy to ensure that the socio-economic goals for 2014 were turned into reality, BUSA said.
Asgi-SA aims to halve unemployment from 28 percent in 2004 to 14 percent or lower by 2014, halve the poverty rate between 2004 and 2014, and achieve an economic growth rate of at least 6 percent from 2010-2014.
This national initiative, through a number of projects, is targeting various areas identified as constraints to accelerated and shared growth in the economy.
JIPSA which was launched in March 2006 aims to address the country's skills deficit in a concerted way.
For this reason, the Deputy President Pumzile Mlambo Ngcuka urged a call to arms from all South Africans to fight poverty through going to school, getting an education and contributing to the growth of South Africa.
"In each family I want one warrior that is armed with education!
"We can do it, we know what areas they [the unemployed and uneducated] live in, we know who these people are - cause they all receive grants from government.
"These are people who are young and able bodied who are sitting at home not going to school ... these are the people we need to be targeting.
"There is approximately 7 million able bodied people in South Africa that are missing from the economy ... these are people who are 40 years of age and have never worked before.
"There is, [however], not enough exit opportunities for young people in this country and that is how we are failing the youth ... government cannot do this without help from the private sector," said the deputy president on Thursday during the realise of the reports.
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Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka appealed to all present to renew their commitment to fight poverty and stimulate growth in South Africa.
Print this comment,whatever the goals are re poverty,whatever the compassion involved, in 2014 for economic/idealogical reasons poverty will not be alieviated.
Print this comment,whatever the goals are re poverty,whatever the compassion involved, in 2014 for economic/idealogical reasons poverty will not be alieviated.
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