Johannesburg – Labour and Employment Minister Thulas Nxesi said South Africa would have to ramp up its employment through technology and massive infrastructure projects.
The minister briefed a joint meeting of the portfolio committee on Employment and Labour as well as the select committee of the National Council of Provinces on his department’s annual performance plans and budget.
Nxesi also touched on the department’s capacity to respond to Covid-19.
He added that post-Covid-19, the country must embark on a mass employment programme with a focus on infrastructure.
“And these must be labour intensive. We can’t put everything on tenders but also the country will have to ramp up on its own infrastructure,” said the minister.
Nxesi added that the pandemic has forced the government to embrace technology, calling for a new approach to labour policies and said that South Africans should be prioritised.
“What we will try to deal with is that we can’t sit with millions of unemployed, we must introduce those quotas,” the minister added.
Leave a Reply