THE DA has challenged President Jacob Zuma not to succumb to pressure by ANC allies Cosatu and the SACP to cancel the strategy designed to create jobs for young people.

THE DA has challenged President Jacob Zuma not to succumb to pressure by ANC allies Cosatu and the SACP to cancel the strategy designed to create jobs for young people.

The latest Labour Force Survey published by Statistics SA found that about 3,5million young people were neither in school nor in employment. It said more than 63percent of them had not earned any form of income in the past year.

During his State of The Nation Address in February, Zuma promised to introduce a wage subsidy scheme which would make it easier for companies to employ young graduates.

But last week, Zuma appeared to be buckling under pressure from Cosatu and suggested the scheme was up for debate.

The DA accussed Zuma of submitting to pressure from former Cosatu NEC member and Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel and the twomillion-strong labour force who have opposed the scheme.

DA's Tim Harris described Zuma's U-turn as alarming. "After six weeks of loud and poorly reasoned opposition to the youth wage subsidy, it appears as if Patel is championing Cosatu's efforts to block the proposal."

The DA argued that delaying implementation of the policy was akin to passing up on the opportunity to create about 4000 jobs a week.