Kaya 959 Reporter
South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to immediately step down following the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures.
According to the figures that Statistics South Africa released, the GDP increased by 1.2% in the second quarter of 2021.
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The South African #economy recorded its 4th consecutive quarter of growth, expanding by 1,2% in Q2:2021. This followed a revised 1,0% rise in #GDP in Q1:2021.#StatsSA pic.twitter.com/NNe1UWKyBt— Stats SA (@StatsSA) September 7, 2021
In an interview on SABC News, SAFTU General-Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi called for the resignation of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and outlined why he needs to go:
“He is the leader who promised the youth that he is going to be focusing on their crisis of unemployment, he is the president of a governing party that has been in power for the past 26 years, who’s leadership has only produced more unemployment poverty and inequalities. Someone needs to take accountability and won’t wait until there’s an implosion where the powder cake of the economy explodes in our faces. We’ve already seen what happened in July. We don’t want to see what we’ve seen in Libya and Sierra.
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According to reports by SABC News, the latest rise in the GDP stems from transport, communication and agriculture, along with personalised services and the accommodation industries.
Vavi also warned that if government does not change its current economic policies, more jobs will be lost.
“Government is refusing to restructure the economy. Government is refusing to abandon liberal policies. Government is refusing to embrace a call that has been made so repeatedly that the current structure inherited from the colonial apartheid will never ever respond to the crisis of larger economy, the inclusion of black people [and the] the crisis of poverty,” adds Vavi.
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The newly-released data indicates a rise in overall unemployment to 34.4% with the younger generations making up the majority of the increase.
SAFTU General-Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi predicts a further increase in unemployment if adaptions are not implemented to the government economic policies.



