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The Eastern Cape is one of the most poverty-stricken provinces in South Africa, with the highest unemployment rate in the country. This province is, therefore, the hardest hit by the devastating cost-of-living crisis crippling the country.

Today, 6 March 2024, we launched two 2024 election billboards in Mthatha, as it is the eastern part of our province that is suffering the most due to this unemployment and cost-of-living crisis.

The messages on these billboards are clear: Cut Food Costs, Protect Social Grants, and Create Jobs.

It is now clearer than ever that the General Election on 29 May 2024 is the most important election since the dawn of democracy.

Given the ANC government’s inability and unwillingness to deal with the cost-of-living crisis and spiralling unemployment, the DA has proposed several interventions that can, if implemented, save our fellow citizens from further suffering.

These include:

Scrap VAT on the food items most purchased by the poorest households by reviewing and expanding the zero-rated food basket.

Review and reduce import tariffs on foods consumed by low-income households.

Protect the grant system, that we will also massively improve it. The DA will immediately raise the child support grant, currently at R510, to the food poverty line at R760 to bring immediate relief from the scourge of hunger and malnutrition.

Collaborative efforts involving government, the private sector, civil society, and educational institutions are essential to tackle the causes of unemployment, provide opportunities for skills development, and promote inclusive economic growth in the province.

Our solutions to the unemployment crisis include:

Provincial government must develop vocational and technical training programmes, focusing on high-demand skills in technology, agriculture, manufacturing, and services.

Mentorships, business training, and the development of innovation hubs and business incubators that can offer support and encourage collaborative entrepreneurship.

Tourism Promotion by investing in and marketing tourism assets, the region can create numerous jobs in the tourism and hospitality sectors, where young people often find their first employment.

Modernising farming practices, encouraging urban and hydroponic farming, and expanding into value-added agro-processing, through which we can create a range of youth jobs, from technology-driven to more traditional farming jobs.

Link EPWP opportunities to real skills development initiatives that develop transferable skills while gaining work experience.

The DA has the solutions to cut the cost of living, protect social grants and create jobs and after the 2024 Elections, we will rescue the Eastern Cape from the clutches of poverty, unemployment, and starvation.

Issued by Andrew Whitfield MP - DA Eastern Cape Provincial Leader