[VOXPOPS] South Africans need to unite, work together for economy growth
Monday, 1 May is Workers Day. Review took to the streets to hear from the community what they have to say on this topic.
Bothumelo Nkune – "All South Africans should work more together which will result in more brilliant ideas to stimulate our economy. There are many people, especially in rural areas, that are jobless. But instead of waiting for government to help, people must team up, start working together and do something for themselves."
POLOKWANE – The 100th anniversary of May Day (now called Workers Day) was commemorated on 1 May in 1986. The South African Labour Federation Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), formed in December 1985, demanded that May Day be recognised as a public holiday, Workers Day, and called for a stay-away.
Mpho Hutama – “When working for yourself, you have to work twice as hard and it can be stressful at times. I think South Africans should unite in order to work together. A better support structure is needed from government for small businesses that would like to establish themselves in the economy which will help with unemployment.”Antony Dzwiti – “South Africa is a diverse country with many local and international people already working together. My take on working together to create jobs and to fight poverty is that those who are employed, should work harder to see businesses grow to employ more people, which will result in the economy growing further.”Martin le Roux – “These days is it difficult to find a job, especially for young people. I think more unity in the business world needs to be committed amongst South Africans to help with sustainable growth amongst businesses. When businesses grow, the economy booms. But people should not expect such growth to happen overnight, depending on the trade of a business, it can take one, two or even more to achieve such, but it can be done.”Charl Liversage – “We probably have too many public holidays, although I regard Workers Day as an important factor among the South African classes. In today’s life people need to work, you just cannot take off and expect an income at the same time. Especially when working for yourself, an income is even more important, because it is your livelihood.”
Most of South Africa’s workers had unilaterally declared the day a public holiday and stayed away from work. Premier Foods then became the first large employer to declare 1 May and 16 June (Youth Day) as paid holidays. Following this, many other companies followed suit.
