Zanu PF still upbeat about its 2,2 million jobs target

via Zanu PF still upbeat about its 2,2 million jobs target – NewsDay Zimbabwe September 28, 2015

VICE-PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has claimed that the “mega investment deals” being entered into with Nigerian business mogul Aliko Dangote and Chinese investors were enough to generate the 2,2 million jobs that Zanu PF pledged to deliver in the run-up to the 2013 elections.

Mnangagwa was responding to questions by opposition MDC-T legislator Godfrey Sithole (Chitungwiza North) who wanted to know if Zanu PF still had the capacity to achieve its set target of 2,2 million jobs in the next five years.

“I would like the MP to come to our meetings so that we can inform him about what we are doing because the 2,2 million jobs that we promised were in the manifesto of our 2013 general elections. We have many mega deals that are being implemented and these are creating a lot of employment. So feel free to come to our meetings and get briefed,” Mnangagwa told Parliament on Wednesday.

Last month, Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya-Moyo told NewsDay that Zanu PF will deliver on its 2, 2 million job promises and turn the millions of informal jobs into formal ones.

“It is possible yes, to create the jobs we promised. You can see we are working hard, but most of the jobs around are informal. So government is putting a lot of money into the informal sector as support to formalise these jobs,” Khaya-Moyo.

However, two years after the 2,2 million job promises about 30 000 workers were fired from employment after a Supreme Court on July 17 this year made a landmark ruling allowing employers to fire workers on three months’ notice.

But Zanu PF still insists that it will meet its set target despite that thousands of people including university graduates have turned to vending as the economy and employment sector continue to shrink.

The Zanu PF manifesto promised to provide every Zimbabwean with a high quality life in terms of “access to decent work or employment, reliable transport, quality education, good health, decent housing or shelter, water and sanitation”, as well as to build 1,25 million houses to clear the national housing backlog.