Job Creation Takes Centre Stage

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In the State of the Nation address at the beginning of June, President Jacob Zuma announced that employment creation will be a top priority for the African National Congress over the coming years. The government will try to create 500,000 additional workplaces by the end of 2009 and a total of 4mn job opportunities by 2014. Given the sharp downturn in domestic economic growth (we forecast a contraction of 1.9% in 2009), we believe the authorities will face considerable challenges fulfilling their objective over the course of this year, raising the risk of industrial action by the trade unions in