Look, I’m no labour expert. In the old days you had guys like Steven Friedman who really could cover labour. But on the labour front it’s surprising how the joblessness just keeps on growing. And what was interesting in the latest figures is the number of domestic workers who’ve lost their jobs. This is a pity because those types of jobs provide income for the lower levels. But you know, there is the minimum wage, and that is preventing people keeping on domestic workers in this economy where house owners or householders have lost their jobs.
You see, I don’t know if my thinking is limited here, but the way I see it is that over the past three decades, there’s been a move towards elitist jobs. The elite have their jobs, and they’re extremely happy. Forget the rest. There are many rakesome people running the show. This means their ideologies count. So what you’ve got in South Africa is a limited number of public sector cushy jobs and then a limited number of private sector cushy jobs. This is what you call elitism. The broad majority, and there are a lot of people in this country, about 60 to 65 million people, they don’t score. They’re mainly out there on their own, some with government grants, but that’s all. A government grant doesn’t go far.
On the upside, getting away from elitism. Years ago, people were looked down upon if they were entrepreneurs, but nowadays everybody, well virtually everybody, except those in elitist positions, and that includes political positions, have to create jobs for themselves. In other words, they have to freelance. They have to create small businesses.
The elitist problem and the joblessness problem is so deeply entrenched in this country because of its lack of economic policy that unfortunately, and I hate to say this, there is little hope of things changing.
Editorial Disclosure & Disclaimer
Financial News Daily is an independent business news syndicate and a wholly owned subsidiary of Idea Accelerator. We publish financial, environmental and corporate commentary for digital platforms, media outlets and organisations. Nothing published here constitutes investment, legal or financial advice. All opinions are editorial commentary on matters of public and economic interest.
