DA leader John Steenhuisen has pleaded with Mzansi to vote for his party later this month.
He said the DA has the best policies to create jobs.
Steenhuisen was speaking outside Cosatu House in Joburg on Thursday, 2 May, as he led a group of party members in a picket against high unemployment.
Steenhuisen said there are 10 million unemployed and 30 million grossly impoverished South Africans listening to Cosatu bigwigs talk about progress made in the last 30 years as they struggle to find work.
“I have a message for those millions of citizens who have all but lost hope. South Africa’s economy doesn't belong to Cosatu and its unholy alliance with its corrupt partners in crime.
“It belongs to each and every job-seeking South African who wants to build our country and make a contribution to our future. Where Cosatu and its unholy alliance have shut the door on South African workers, the DA’s economic policy holds the key to allow all South Africans to access a life in which they have meaningful work and a meaningful life,” he said.
DA leader John Steenhuisen calls out COSATU's on its celebration on workers' day while millions remain unemployed in South Africa. Video by Kgomotso Medupe @dailysunsa pic.twitter.com/XzHJpygI8V
— Kgomotso Medupe (@MedupeKB) May 2, 2024
ALSO READ: Party leader - Cancel Workers' Day!
Steenhuisen said the DA's economic policy supports a minimum wage for skilled workers but also advocates for the targeted exemption to lift millions out of poverty and enable them to be self-sufficient.
He added that when the DA is the anchor party of a new national coalition government after 29 May, it'll introduce a Youth Employment Opportunity Certificate to give unemployed youths a leg up in the labour market.
“This certificate will allow holders to choose to opt out of the national minimum wage created and implemented by Cosatu and the unholy alliance, and enable unemployed young people to gain valuable work experience, earn a wage rather than be reliant on the state for a social grant, and allow them to move up the opportunity ladder by gaining work experience of which the minimum wage continues to rob them,” Steenhuisen said.
