Despite poor economic growth and job creation nationally‚ the Western Cape seems to be bucking the trend.
Presenting her State of the Province Address (Sopa)‚ Premier Helen Zille said business was not only showing confidence in the province‚ her province was creating jobs and unemployment had dropped.
“Today‚ there are over 200000 more jobs in the Western Cape than there were when we took office in 2009‚” said Zille.
She said the province had managed to recover and grow since the global recession.
“The unemployment rate has gone down over the last three years‚ from 24.8% in 2012 to 20.6% as of September 2015‚ according to the quarterly labour force survey of Stats SA‚ which is truly remarkable given the rate of population growth‚” said Zille.
Zille’s Sopa comes amid increased fear over the country’s economic performance due to a badly perfoming rand and a drought that is threatening food security.
The Western Cape’s position has been made worse by raging fires which have affected both wine and stock farmers.
“Although our unemployment rate is still much too high‚ at least we are moving in the right direction‚” said Zille.
Another sign of confidence in the Western Cape’s economy was investment in the province’s infrastructure.
“In a 12-month period ending August last year‚ 654000m² of commercial and residential developments were approved for construction in the Western Cape‚ almost nine times the 75000m² approved in Gauteng for the same period‚ according to Statistics South Africa‚” said Zille. – TMG Digital/Sunday Times
Zille: Western Cape has managed to grow despite gloomy economic outlook
Despite poor economic growth and job creation nationally‚ the Western Cape seems to be bucking the trend.
Presenting her State of the Province Address (Sopa)‚ Premier Helen Zille said business was not only showing confidence in the province‚ her province was creating jobs and unemployment had dropped.
“Today‚ there are over 200000 more jobs in the Western Cape than there were when we took office in 2009‚” said Zille.
She said the province had managed to recover and grow since the global recession.
“The unemployment rate has gone down over the last three years‚ from 24.8% in 2012 to 20.6% as of September 2015‚ according to the quarterly labour force survey of Stats SA‚ which is truly remarkable given the rate of population growth‚” said Zille.
Zille’s Sopa comes amid increased fear over the country’s economic performance due to a badly perfoming rand and a drought that is threatening food security.
The Western Cape’s position has been made worse by raging fires which have affected both wine and stock farmers.
“Although our unemployment rate is still much too high‚ at least we are moving in the right direction‚” said Zille.
Another sign of confidence in the Western Cape’s economy was investment in the province’s infrastructure.
“In a 12-month period ending August last year‚ 654000m² of commercial and residential developments were approved for construction in the Western Cape‚ almost nine times the 75000m² approved in Gauteng for the same period‚ according to Statistics South Africa‚” said Zille. – TMG Digital/Sunday Times
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