ANC to prioritise creating jobs, ending power cuts

BLOEMFONTEIN - ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa says the fight to curb the high unemployment rate isn't government's alone.

He's calling on the banking and private sectors to come on board.

South Africa’s youth continues to be the most affected by unemployment.

READ: Ramaphosa: Solving energy crisis is a top priority

"Our people are going through difficult times at this point in time, many people are unemployed and many of them have lost hope of finding employment or even setting up viable businesses and young people are the most affected," he said.

"More than a third of young people, aged between 15 and 24 years are not in employment, they are not in education and they are not in training."

Ramaphosa said ending blackouts and solving the energy crisis is one of the party's top priorities.

READ: SACP challenges ANC to end power cuts

He added that power stations also need skilled and experienced staff members.

"The electricity crisis in our country continues to undermine economic growth and investment," he said.

"Load-shedding damages businesses, disrupt households and compromises the provision of social services. Load-shedding also has a negative impact on important processes in our country such as food production."