Ahead of his State of the Province Address (Sopa) on January 19, Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi has promised to announce more jobs for the economic hub, reeling from an unemployment rate that has soared above 33%.
Lesufi, who has been in the province’s top political post since October 2022, didn’t provide any details but said new opportunities would be created through rendering services.
However, his comments come at a time of collapsing infrastructure across the province, with some areas not receiving running water for weeks.
The province’s most populous city, Johannesburg, is functionally bankrupt and cannot afford to fix its pothole-riddled roads.
At a ward council meeting in Randburg recently, residents were told that the city’s roads department fleet was grounded as there was no money to run it.
Theft of electrical infrastructure and equipment is also said to have reached levels outstripping the council’s ability to maintain infrastructure with spare parts.
Lesufi though is adamant that the province many refer to as the “engine room of South Africa” is on a services industry growth path through which employment opportunities will be created.
But youth unemployment remains a major concern. Some 61% of 15- to 24-year-olds are without jobs and 71% of those are no longer trying to find work.
Opposition politicians have said it will be Lesufi’s last Sopa.
Responding to accusations that he’s electioneering ahead of South Africa’s national elections later this year, widely seen as a watershed election that could see the ANC’s majority dip below 50%, Lesufi laughed it off, saying job creation under his leadership would give his detractors “chest pains”.
