Cosatu hasn't decided on growth plan
2010-11-28 22:09
Johannesburg - The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Sunday said it did not reject nor accept government's new growth path strategy as it was still studying the initiative.
"Cosatu has noted media reports on reactions to the government's new growth path which could be wrongly interpreted as a rejection by Cosatu of the whole initiative," spokesperson Patrick Craven said in a statement.
He said the federation welcomed the publication of the plan and "it is still examining it and has neither rejected nor accepted it".
His comments follow Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel's unveiling of the economic strategy which aimed to create five million jobs over the next decade.
Among other things, the new growth path identified investments in five key physical and social infrastructure areas: energy, transport, communication, water and housing.
"While having reservations over certain aspects notably the proposal on wage restraints the are other areas that we are likely to come out in support, notably the proposal on creating over five million jobs."
Government's plan has been met with criticism in some quarters, with organisations such as the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry saying that it would be hard to create the number of jobs as targeted by the plan.
"Cosatu's views have absolutely nothing in common with those in business who are opposing the whole plan for completely different reasons," said Craven.
- SAPA
