Ramaphosa vows to recover jobs lost to Covid-19
African National Congress (ANC) president Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed to recover some of the jobs lost during the national Covid-19 lockdown.
Ramaphosa shut down the economy in March in a bid to slow the spread of Covid-19 and to prepare the country’s health system for rising infections.
Most parts of the economy have been opened but the impact of the lockdown is starting to become apparent.
Speaking at the 65th anniversary of the Freedom Charter on Friday, Ramaphosa vowed to restore the ailing economy.
“We plan to embark on major job creation interventions such as huge infrastructure projects.
“We are now, during this Covid period, going to be ready to ensure that the jobs that are going to be lost we are going to regain some.”
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Ramaphosa added that the country’s wealth needed to be distributed equitably.
“It is undeniable that the wealth of this country remains largely in the hands of a predominantly white and male minority.
“This must change.”
ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa says the wealth of country cannot remain in white, predominantly male, hands - black and marginalized people must also have a seat at the table. The #COVID19 crisis may give rise to these opportunities if we "flip the coin". #FreedomCharter65 pic.twitter.com/DpEFPOFASC
— Jacaranda News (@JacaNews) June 26, 2020
Earlier this week, StatsSA announced that South Africa's unemployment rate jumped rose one percentage point to 30.1 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the final three months of 2019.