The phrase “It’s the Economy‚ Stupid” was made famous by the campaign strategist‚ James Carville‚ during Bill Clinton’s run for the White House in 1992‚ and it has as much application to South Africa right now as it did then in the US at a time of recession‚ Democratic Alliance (DA) leader‚ Mmusi Maimane said on Monday.

“In order to move forward as a country and realise our great potential‚ South Africa needs to deal with its biggest problem: unemployment.”

The DA leader said the DA was aiming for national government in 2019. “We simply have no other choice. We have the political will and the focused leadership to work with labour and business to solve the unemployment problem and get South Africa working.

Speaking at Rhodes University‚ Grahamstown‚ at the launch of “How South Africa Works” by Greg Mills and Jeffrey Herbst‚ Maimane said‚ “Like the authors … I don’t share the pessimism of some who say that South Africa is becoming a failed state. But I do recognise that we don’t have the luxury of time to get things right and fix our economy so that it creates the jobs required.”

Maimane said that more than a third of South Africa’s available workforce were either without employment or had given up seeking work. Of this group‚ two thirds were young South Africans. “If we don’t address this problem with the urgency and innovation that is required‚ our nation will struggle to move forward.”

Unemployment could only be addressed by a growing economy that created jobs. And a growing economy that created jobs was the best way of finally putting the country’s painful past‚ characterised by poverty‚ inequality and injustice‚ to rest so that South African could finally move forward.

“South Africa desperately needs the leadership and political will to get our economy growing at rates that can create enough jobs. And that requires government‚ labour and business all working together to do what is necessary.

“But what is ultimately required for this leadership and political will is a change in government. As Greg Mills and Jeffrey Herbst state: ‘other parties are important‚ but if the government and the ruling party is not playing its role‚ the actions of labour and business inevitably will be stunted’.”

“We need to ensure that our education system produces the skills required by a growing economy. But of course‚ we need a growing economy to create the jobs to employ the young South Africans emerging from a functioning education system.

“The DA believes that fostering a culture of entrepreneurship in South Africa and empowering small business is critical in growing the economy. We need to reduce the barriers to entry into the economy and make it easier to get businesses off the ground.”

He said that in order to become a more attractive investment destination “we must slash red-tape surrounding the migration laws that prevent skilled foreign nationals from migrating to South Africa‚ and streamline the processing of applications for work and residence permits”.

“We also need to do away with punitive exchange controls that deter international investors and relax strict labour laws that drive up costs.”