Govt not alleviating poverty, DA says
2012-11-01 20:46
Johannesburg - The government is not creating an environment that will alleviate poverty, the DA said on Thursday.
"Census statistics released on Tuesday has shown that the average income in Limpopo is R56 844 - which is the lowest or worst in South Africa," Democratic Alliance MP Jacques Smalle said in a statement.
"Unemployment grew from 20.2% to 38.9% and could be as high as 49.9% should it be expanded."
This was according to the new statistics released on Thursday.
Small said the DA's 8% growth project, in its policy for economic change, stated that everyone would be given the opportunity to take part in the economy and where state tenders would be open to all.
Education would prepare the youth for entry into the job-market.
"We want government to focus more on schools, incentives for the private sector, improvements and maintenance of basic infrastructure by pushing for more downstream investments by major companies, especially mines, to create more employment," he said.
DA MP Tim Harris welcomed the statistics council's response to questions on the quality of the Census 2011 data.
"We do however maintain that key questions remain unanswered and must be addressed in a hearing by Parliament’s standing committee on finance," he said in a statement.
These included an undercount of 14.6% of the population, and the integrity of demographic data relating to population figures and provincial population figures.
Harris said he wrote a letter to Thabadiawa Mufamadi, chairperson of the standing committee, to ask that the census results be reviewed.
"I requested that we summon minister Trevor Manuel, StatsSA, the Statistics Council, and the demographers who have raised concerns around the data, to Parliament to reassure the South African public that the Census results are reliable," he said.
The Statistics Council, which monitors censuses conducted by Statistics SA, on Thursday said the Census results were accurate.
- SAPA
