EAST LONDON – Democratic Alliance (DA) leader, John Steenhuisen made an appearance at the East London Guild Theater in the Eastern Cape, with an shocking eye opening revelation truth to the youth of Eastern Cape, about the Cadre Deployment enforced by the ANC government.
In his visit to the city of East London on Youth Day, Steenhuisen had this to say,”this government of 2023 still practices a form of ‘JOB RESERVATION,’ except they call it ‘CADRE DEPLOYMENT.’ This means unless you have connections to some network or have friends in high places or if you are prepared to sleep with the well connected then you will get an opportunity to get a job.”
A reality that has indeed become a norm in South Africa on all levels of life. The DA leader went to to explained how this deployment can actually affect the common citizen of South Africa. According to Steenhuisen the Cadre Deployment prevents anyone who is not connected into the system to exclude those who are on the outside.
Steenhuisen said,” Many skilled young people cannot find work in the public sector because many jobs are reserved for Caders and the connected few… This government is taking the exact things that the apartheid government did to Hector Pieterson and his peers at the time and reintroducing them in South Africa. This is reducing us again to be defined by nothing more than the colour of our skin.”
“A list of racial quotas was published last month that determine which race groups can work in which sectors and where they can work in which parts of the country. They apply to the 18 key areas in our economy. Companies that do not comply with these quotas will face sever punishments including;not getting government contracts, not being able to apply for government work and through fines and they will be cut off completely from doing business,” DA leader John.
The quotas are said to not only affect minorities although they are more harsh towards them. In Limpopo and North West provinces, the employment of Indian and Coloured ethic groups is completely banned in certain sectors while in others Indians and South Africans are reduced to just 1%.
Luvo Vimbani, Chairperson of the Eastern Cape DA Youth says,” We as the youth of today have only one question we have to answer which is, what are we going to be remembered for? Are we going to be remembered for letting the ANC continue to misuse and misguide the state and its resources or, are we going to be remembered as the generation that utilized their right to vote and removed the ANC from power?”
Vimbani highlighted that people are leaving the Eastern Cape in numbers to go look for employment in other provinces because there are no jobs in the province. Industrial areas in the Eastern Cape have been turned into ruins with the ever promise from government saying that they are being repaired.
“We were supposed to turn those industrial areas into the biggest employers for the province now they are just ruins,” said the Chairperson.
With 82% of families in South Africa not being able to afford to put 3 meals on the table a day and a youth unemployment of 72%, we can only hope that the 2024 election can bring about change and transformation for our nation.
