Eskom's Mabuza says South Africa facing 'unemployment time bomb'

16th May 2019

By: Bloomberg

  

Font size: - +

South Africa needs to increase state support in education as well as private sector involvement to avoid devastating job losses, according to Eskom chairperson Jabu Mabuza.

“Our overriding objective should be to maximize the impact of policy interventions through labour-absorbing growth,” Mabuza, who is also chairperson of Business Leadership South Africa, which represents big corporates, wrote in an opinion piece in the Johannesburg-based Financial Mail. “Everyone must play a part in overcoming our huge unemployment time bomb.”

Unemployment in Africa’s most-industrialised nation climbed to a near-15 year high of 27.6% in the first quarter. Eskom is seen as one of the country’s biggest economic risks, with almost $35-billion in debt dragging on the State company’s ability to operate. The World Bank estimates it has 66% too many employees.

The government also needs to focus on ensuring a clear fiscal strategy to help keep its credit rating intact, Mabuza said.

Edited by Bloomberg

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION