South Africa has Declared Unemployment a National Emergency

After a three-day lekgotla (communal meeting), the African National Congress (ANC) has declared unemployment in South Africa a national emergency, according to eNCA. Speaking to the press yesterday, ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule said that the ruling party aimed to reduce the alarmingly high unemployment rate by half within the next five years.

The current unemployment rate is sitting at 27.6 percent while youth unemployment is at a staggering 55.2 percent, Trading Economics reports. The resulting poverty and inequality is conspicuous with beggars at every traffic light, graduates on social media talking about how they've been unemployed for years and about 17 million South Africans currently dependent on social grants.

Speaking on behalf of the ANC, Magashule said:

"Lekgotla agreed that unemployment is now going to be a national emergency. We are declaring unemployment a national disaster. We want our deployees to focus on implementation."

Just last month, South Africa made it to the cover of Time Magazine—for all the wrong reasons. The cover highlighted the magnitude of inequality by depicting the wealthy Johannesburg suburb of Primrose situated right next to the impoverished township of Makause.

The scourge of unemployment in South Africa and the indignity it's brought to so many is unfortunately nothing new. It's about damn time the ruling party declared it the national emergency it has been for years.