'Elite workers’ myth needs tidying

ARE public sector workers a new labour elite in SA? Yes, according to researchers at the Development Policy Research Unit (DPRU) of the University of Cape Town. Their position is not new, though.

The Democratic Alliance and other commentators have been saying for years that the public sector is overstaffed and overpaid. If this belief were taken to heart and implemented, the result would be a disaster, not only for public sector workers, but for the entire working class, including the unemployed. 

Black Professional Organisations Bemoan slow Pace of Transformation

ELEVEN black professional associations have bemoaned the slow pace of economic transformation and have pointed to the 2,000-plus unemployed black engineers in Souht Africa to make their case.
They have also identified the government’s Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act as a stumbling block.

The Black Management Forum, the Association of Black Accountants of South African and the National Society of Black Engineers met President Jacob Zuma in Pretoria on Friday as part of a series of meetings between him and organised sectors.

No Reliable Data Record Yet On Unemployed Youths – Minister

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr. James Ocholi, SAN yesterday said that there is no reliable statistics on unemployed youths in the country.

Mr. James Ocholi, SAN

The minister stated this at the All Progressives Congress, APC national headquarters in Abuja where he fielded questions from journalists on how the ministry is carrying out its mandate of job creation so far.

He also spoke on the federal government’s plans to employ non-trained teacher graduates as teachers, for which President Muhammadu Buhari spoke on during his budget presentation at the National Assembly.

The APC government had during the electioneering campaigns promised to pay N5, 000 stipend per month to indigent Nigerians and to create employment.

According to Ocholi, the Teacher Conversion Programme is meant to mop up graduates who do not have employment but possess degrees in relevant areas that can be used to teach secondary school students.

The minister who decried lack of data of unemployed youths said, “Before we got to where we are, there was no data anywhere.