By Thys Khiba – The MEC for department of Economic, Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (DESTEA), Thabo Meeko said the planned EFF 20 March national shutdown is unfortunate and irresponsible conduct towards the economy.
The provincial government indicated they are working with various business formations to come up with practical solutions, not only to reboot the economy, but also to initiate plans to deal with triple challenges of poverty, inequality, and unemployment.
“Growing the Free State economy and creating jobs remains the focus of this administration.
“They must stop using innocent people as guinea pigs to test their strength towards 2024 elections,” Meeko said.
According to Meeko the planned shutdown is ‘an antithesis of government initiatives’ on economic recovery and reconstruction.
Meanwhile, the Free State Premier Mxolisi Dukwana has expressed a deep concern towards the planned shutdown.
During his Sopa, Dukwana emphasized the key role that the infrastructure and integrated planning play in building sustainable growth.
Free State has an unemployment rate of 36% as one of the nine provinces of South Africa.
Meeko believes that interventions by the government working together with business community are showing some improvement as demonstrated by the decreasing unemployment rate in Quarter 3 compared to same period in the previous year.
“In the 2023/24 DESTEA budget vote, I will outline drastic and radical measures on how we intend to recalibrate the economy of the province,” said Meeko.
The planned shutdown comes after many businesses collapsed due to the Covid 19-pandemic and power cuts.
The Destea in the province believes that the Ministry of Electricity led by Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, is working tirelessly in ensuring that there’s energy security in the country.
“We warmly welcome the announced improvements in ESKOM’s power generation fleet that over the past week, six coal fired power stations achieved an energy available factor of 70%. This is a clear demonstration that the government is committed to dealing with the challenges at hand.
“Therefore, interrupting economic activities such as the tourism sector, the food and hospitality industry, manufacturing, and logistics will impact the economy negatively and affect the lives of the poor,” said Meeko.
Meanwhile, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema indicated that essential workers will not be affected by Monday’s national shutdown.
The EFF will lead the picket lines on the 20th of March to demand the resignation of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Amongst other issues, the party will also be protesting against the energy crisis, high unemployment rate and the high cost of living.
CENTRAL NEWS
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