Abstract
M.Comm.
Henry Ford once said: "work does more than get us our living; it gets us our life..." Taking this to heart, unemployment is one of the biggest problems facing the South African social and economic environment and is in many cases the cause of violence, poverty and crime. The unemployment rate for South Africa for the year 2000 is 37.7%, one of the highest in the world and is primarily the result of high population growth, low economic growth and outdated technology.
Despite the highest growth in GDP since 1996, 3% for the year 2000, the loss in jobs increased from 1.9% for 1999 to 2.7% for the year 2000. Nearly all sectors suffered job losses in the period March 1996 to March 1999. Thus, currently more jobs are lost than being created in a jobless growth economy.
All over the world job creation and job creation programmes are receiving more attention. But business, government and labour are looking at this issue from different angles. In order to create jobs all of the parties mentioned need to simulate their energies and work together. Therefore the National Economic Forum (NEF) set out to allocate funds to viable job creation programmes in the provision and maintenance of urban and rural infrastructure and the enhancing of skills.
The goal of the study was to research the potential of these job creation programmes to create jobs and to evaluate the success of current job creation programmes in combating unemployment. The study also sets out to show that certain development initiatives could be promoted by these projects. At the end of the study guidelines are offered which are seen to be crucial to the success of job creation programmes.
The main conclusions reached through the research were that job creation programmes create jobs for thousands of workers over the long and the short run using labour intensive methods to provide infrastructure in urban and rural areas. These projects create sustainable jobs by coordinating the demand for better infrastructure as well as the commercial demand for waste products. The goal of these projects - to combat poverty in rural and urban areas by asset creation, training and to provide single parents, youth and the disabled with a lifeline - is what makes these projects worthwhile. But the most important spin-off of job creation programmes is that previously unemployed people are becoming economically active and independent, learning basic life skills while becoming self-confident and employable.
Of the many guidelines presented the most crucial one for the success of such a programme is a clear goal, focus and vision. For one thing is certain, job creation programmes creates jobs. And South Africa needs jobs urgently. Therefore in the words of Thomas Carlyle: "Blessed is he who has found his work. Let him ask no other blessedness."