Committee not satisfied with DOL’s contribution to fighting unemployment
The Select Committee on Economic and Business Development has voiced reservations about the Department of Labour’s (DoL) commitment to fight unemployment in line with the government’s broader objectives.
The Chairperson of the Committee, Mr Eddie Makue, said he was aware that the Committee might appear to be harsh, but there was a need to implement recommendations for the betterment of South Africans.
“While DoL is reporting under expenditure and targets missed, scores of deserving South Africans are unemployed. What is it that the department is doing to deal with unemployment,” Mr Makue said.
The DoL briefed the Committee on its annual report for the 2014/15 financial year, revealing that well over R100 million in budgeted funds was not used and was returned to the National Treasury. The department indicated it only achieved 42% of its annual targets.
Mr Makue said if the challenge was with provinces or entities the department needed to honestly inform the Committee so that it could intervene. “DoL should tell the Committee if provinces and entities are failing. Our responsibility is to hold these entities accountable,” he said.
He called on the DoL to introduce the concept of consequence management and to stick to the 30-day payment principle as espoused by government.
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