President Cyril Ramaphosa said that a solid foundation has been laid for the revival of the ailing South African economy and the creation of significant jobs.
Ramaphosa said at the end of the two-day high-level Jobs Summit on Friday, that there was a real commitment to creating jobs and all the social partners - encompassing government, organised labour, business and communities - had made the commitment to focus on that goal.
"We, as a country and as a government and as social partners united in this effort, have been putting the building blocks in place for the recovery of our economy and we have been coming up with a number of enabling measures. This jobs summit is one of those enabling measures that is definitely going to contribute to the recovery of our economy," said Ramaphosa.
On Thursday, the President urged companies doing business in South Africa, government entities and the general populace to prioritize purchasing locally manufactured goods and products in a bid to create and save jobs.
"For the economy to grow and for jobs to be created, it is essential that there is a substantial increase in domestic demand. This means that South African companies, government and consumers must buy local," said Ramaphosa in his keynote opening address at the Summit.
"If we do not buy the food that comes out of South African soil, there will be no farms and no farm workers. If we do not buy the goods made by South African hands, there will be no factories and no workers. The most direct way for South Africans and South African companies to create jobs is to buy only South African products."
The President convened the summit as South Africa grapples with stubbornly high unemployment, currently at 27.2% of the labour force.
- African News Agency (ANA).
