The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) is not appalled at the recent statistics by Statics South Africa (SSA). It is however worried with the increasing rate of unemployment which is responsible for other societal ailments such as poverty, crime, HIV/Aids, among others.

PAC strongly believe that it's overdue for the government to declare unemployment a national crisis.

The party does not believe that the 27.2 % figure presented by SSA is a true reflection of the situation on the ground. We believe that the unemployment rate is above 60%.

The majority of our people are living below the poverty datum line, inequality is widening while the government has no proper plan to arrest these crises.

Our economic system excludes its own masses and caters for the elite.

The PAC has been saying over many decades that all the socioeconomic problems that we have are the symptoms of the original problem, which is the dispossession of the land.

We tried to make our voice heard during the Codesa (Convention for a Democratic SA) negotiations, when we said: "Land first, all shall follow."

We acknowledge the current national dialogue on the agrarian question, however, we are not happy with the manner in which it is being spearheaded. We call for land redistribution which will allow the majority to repossess the mines, oceans, forestry and game parks in order to improve our livelihood as well as placing us in the driving seat of the economy from which we have been excluded for centuries now.

We cannot pretend that the unemployment crisis is small and that the government will do anything about it because they have failed over the past 20 years.

We urge the government to declare unemployment as a national crisis and give it first priority.

Kenneth Mokgatlhe,PAC spokesperson