Job creation was the path to achieving the South Africa freedom struggle icon Nelson Mandela dreamed of‚ Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane said on Saturday.

Addressing a Mandela Day celebration in Soweto‚ Mamane said

unemployment was arguably the single biggest problem facing the country’s democracy and had the power to break down its social fabric.

“Unemployment has increased from 30.4% in 2009‚ to 36.1% in 2015. This is arguably the biggest challenge to building the South African that Nelson Mandela and his peers fought for‚” he said.

“We talk about the so-called ‘born free’ generation‚ but in truth no one is affected more harshly by unemployment that young people. Of those who are unemployed‚ 2 out of every 3 are young people.

“If we want to restore hope and dignity to this generation we need to take bold and decisive action to deal with the problem of unemployment‚” the DA leader added.

Maimane said the DA believed that central to solving this problem was stimulating economic growth through empowering small business and entrepreneurs.

“We must equip young people who have the ambition and desire to be successful with the tools to achieve this success.”

Nelson Mandela had fought for freedom‚ but freedom without economic opportunity was meaningless. The best way to honour Madiba’s memory was to build an inclusive economy that allowed for all South Africans to live a life they valued‚ Maimane added.