Save South Africa has called for the full scrapping of the hiring age limit in the police and defence force.
The civic movement said there is a relationship between unemployment and crime in South Africa.
Save South Africa Civic Movement spokesperson, Tebogo Mashilompane, said the government continues to carry out the apartheid mandate of creating an unequal society by deliberately and consistently kicking out those who are between the ages of 36 and 59 from participating fully in the economy.
Last week, Statistics SA (Stats SA) revealed that unemployment resulted in the official unemployment rate increasing by 0,6 of a percentage point from 32,9% in the first quarter of 2024 to 33,5% in the second quarter of 2024.
According to Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) results, there was a decrease of 92 000 in the number of employed persons to 16,7 million in Q2:2024, while there was an increase of 158 000 in the number of unemployed to 8,4 million compared to Q1:2024. This resulted in an increase of 66 000 (up by 0,3%) in the labour force in the same period.
Save South Africa said those who are between the ages of 36 and 59 find themselves with zero opportunity when coming to police, defence and other areas where age is the determiner.
“Save South Africa Civic Movement has observed that the high level of unemployment has the potential in creating criminals. In addition, we refer to criminals of all ages. For an example, if a 45-year-old adult is unemployed, he or she does not inspire confidence to the young ones. This example goes further to the graduates. The more graduates are unemployed, the more the level of interest to study decreases,” said Mashilompane.
He said Stats SA recently made mention of the fact that approximately 3.5 million youth are neither at school nor at work without skill or formal education, reflecting a failing education system.
“Through our engagements with those who are over 36 years old, Save SA has found that the spirit is very low since some claim they have been unemployed as far as ten years back. And this unemployment is encouraged by the age limit of 35.
“We are asking the question to say, why is the government not recruiting people based on ability, health etc rather than focusing strictly on age? We argue that there are individuals who are 38, 40 and 45 years old who are healthy, fit and proper to do the job but due to age limit, those individuals find themselves unemployable and neglected by the system,” said Mashilompane.
He said the sad part is that this group also finds it difficult to get funding in order to start businesses. This group was the most neglected and isolated by the government.
“We therefore state that there is a relationship between crime and chronic unemployment,” he said.
Mashilompane said the absence of employment and business opportunities is the presence of criminal thoughts.
“Save South Africa Civic Movement calls on the government to scrap the age limit as it stands in the way of progress for all South Africans. We further call on the Minister of Small Business development to take serious the issue of business funding by motivating for an increased budget,” he said.
Speaking in Pretoria after President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday cancelled planned media engagements due to an eye infection, his spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said job creation remains a central focus under the seventh administration.
“When the president convened the first Lekgotla under the seventh administration and the Government of National Unity (GNU), job creation was the central focus. Every minister and department was clear about the focus that had gone on to the planning of all the departments in terms of programs that would stimulate the economy and create the most needed jobs,” said Magwenya.
He said if one looks at the efforts and focuses on energy and logistics, those efforts are not just located or confined to resolving those sectors.
“There is an understanding that once those sectors are resolved they will have a huge impact on the economy and by extension on jobs in terms of creating and sustaining jobs.
“The stats are concerning and unemployment has been a concern for quite some time, that is why the president even kick-started and led youth employment programs that are coordinated from the Presidency to address and mitigate the effects of unemployment,” Magwenya said.
South African National Defence Force (SANDF) spokesperson, Siphiwe Dlamini, said members who want to join the military must be young, fit and be South African nationals.
“We are not experts in the subject of unemployment and crime, so it wouldn’t be appropriate for us or the defence force to comment on this subject. The defence force can, however, contribute to government plans and programmes that seek to deal with employment. Our age take is clearly defined between 18 and 22 years old and 23 to 26 years old for anyone with a tertiary degree,” Dlamini said.
SAPS national spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe did not comment.
Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said since the fight against crime is not the sole responsibility of police, but this also taking place within an environment wherein there’s high levels of unemployment in the country.
“We believe that there should be multiple efforts from all government departments to ensure we address the unemployment challenge. You will not end crime by simply recruiting more law enforcement officers while the economy still remains one-sided because that will not be a long term solution. Every year we have close to a million learners writing matric, yet three to four years down the line you cannot trace a huge chunk of them to any employment platforms, it can only mean they end up unemployed, with limited further education spaces, that that is exactly what we need to address,” Mamabolo said.
The Star