Note to Editors: These remarks were delivered by ActionSA’s Member of Parliament, Alan Beesley, during the budget vote debate for the Department of Employment and Labour in the National Assembly this afternoon.
Honourable Chairperson,
ActionSA is of the view that the Ministry of Employment and Labour should be renamed the Ministry of No Jobs and No Responsibility.
At the end of the Sixth Parliament, South Africa was already in the grip of an unemployment crisis. Under the Government of National Unity and the current leadership of this Ministry, that crisis has only deepened.
The expanded unemployment rate has worsened, climbing from 42.6% to 43.1%.
According to the latest figures, nearly 300 000 people lost their jobs in the first quarter of 2025 alone. That means 5 000 South Africans will return home today without jobs, another 5 000 tomorrow, and the same every working day that follows.
There are now 8.23 million unemployed South Africans, with an additional 3.5 million so discouraged that they’ve given up even trying to find work. That’s nearly 12 million people left without opportunity, without support, and without hope.
But these are not just statistics. These are the lived experiences of millions of South Africans — real people, suffering under a Ministry that has turned its back on them.
A Ministry of No Jobs
What is most disconcerting is that when asked whether the Minister takes any responsibility for job losses, the answer was an emphatic no.
Minister, if not you, then who? If not your department, then whose job is it to care?
A Ministry of No Responsibility
Chair, we must also express serious concern about the ongoing governance failures at the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the Compensation Fund.
Instead of serving as lifelines for injured and unemployed workers, these funds have become breeding grounds for mass looting and impunity.
The very institutions meant to provide relief in times of hardship are now robbing workers of their dignity and their right to financial security.
It is unacceptable that both funds continue to receive qualified and adverse audit opinions year after year, without consequence.
Chairperson, to create an environment more conducive to job creation, ActionSA will continue to champion reforms including:
- Greater flexibility and innovation in labour practices and regulations
- Amendments to the Labour Relations Act to reduce the disproportionate political and economic influence of trade unions
- Exemptions for SMMEs from agreements reached at collective bargaining councils
- Greater diversity in the private sector through incentives, not coercion
- Increased insourcing within public departments and entities
- And improved governance at the UIF and Compensation Fund
Chairperson, in conclusion:
When you look into the eyes of someone who is unemployed, you see pain. And the longer they are unemployed, the deeper that pain becomes.
It is not just the absence of work — it is a suffocating darkness that consumes hope, dignity, and self-worth.
A darkness caused by a failing government and a failing ministry.
On behalf of all those left behind, all those suffocating in that darkness, ActionSA rejects the budget of the Ministry of No Jobs and No Responsibility.
I thank you.
ActionSA Rejects Budget for Department of “No Jobs and No Responsibility”
Note to Editors: These remarks were delivered by ActionSA’s Member of Parliament, Alan Beesley, during the budget vote debate for the Department of Employment and Labour in the National Assembly this afternoon.
Honourable Chairperson,
ActionSA is of the view that the Ministry of Employment and Labour should be renamed the Ministry of No Jobs and No Responsibility.
At the end of the Sixth Parliament, South Africa was already in the grip of an unemployment crisis. Under the Government of National Unity and the current leadership of this Ministry, that crisis has only deepened.
The expanded unemployment rate has worsened, climbing from 42.6% to 43.1%.
According to the latest figures, nearly 300 000 people lost their jobs in the first quarter of 2025 alone. That means 5 000 South Africans will return home today without jobs, another 5 000 tomorrow, and the same every working day that follows.
There are now 8.23 million unemployed South Africans, with an additional 3.5 million so discouraged that they’ve given up even trying to find work. That’s nearly 12 million people left without opportunity, without support, and without hope.
But these are not just statistics. These are the lived experiences of millions of South Africans — real people, suffering under a Ministry that has turned its back on them.
A Ministry of No Jobs
What is most disconcerting is that when asked whether the Minister takes any responsibility for job losses, the answer was an emphatic no.
Minister, if not you, then who? If not your department, then whose job is it to care?
A Ministry of No Responsibility
Chair, we must also express serious concern about the ongoing governance failures at the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the Compensation Fund.
Instead of serving as lifelines for injured and unemployed workers, these funds have become breeding grounds for mass looting and impunity.
The very institutions meant to provide relief in times of hardship are now robbing workers of their dignity and their right to financial security.
It is unacceptable that both funds continue to receive qualified and adverse audit opinions year after year, without consequence.
Chairperson, to create an environment more conducive to job creation, ActionSA will continue to champion reforms including:
Chairperson, in conclusion:
When you look into the eyes of someone who is unemployed, you see pain. And the longer they are unemployed, the deeper that pain becomes.
It is not just the absence of work — it is a suffocating darkness that consumes hope, dignity, and self-worth.
A darkness caused by a failing government and a failing ministry.
On behalf of all those left behind, all those suffocating in that darkness, ActionSA rejects the budget of the Ministry of No Jobs and No Responsibility.
I thank you.