The government can create 150 000 jobs within the next decade in the renewable energy sector, local activists heard at a One Million Climate Jobs workshop last week.
The government can create 150 000 jobs within the next decade in the renewable energy sector, local activists heard at a One Million Climate Jobs workshop last week.
About 20 activists from the Unemployed People’s Movement, Masifunde Education Trust, Right2Know Campaign and the Rural People’s Movement attended the workshop held at the Masifunde Education Trust on Thursday.
"If our government can produce our electricity from wind and solar power, with a target of producing 50% of electricity with renewable energy in 10 years, we will create about 150 000 jobs and reduce our emissions by 20%," workshop facilitator Thembeka Majali said.
Majali, who came from Cape Town for the workshop, said building RDP houses with solar geysers instead of ordinary ones could also create more jobs, which are in essence also environmentally friendly.
The One Million Climate Jobs Campaign is an alliance of labour, social movements and other civil society organisations in South Africa working to find solutions to climate change threats while advocating for government to create jobs.
During workshop discussions, Unemployed People’s Movement founding chairperson Ayanda Kota suggested that the government provide free transport for job seekers.
"This will reduce the money that the unemployed people are using when they are seeking jobs or submitting CVs in town," he said.
As environmental and economic crises deepen, Majali said the high demand for jobs in South Africa can become a mobilising force, much like the Freedom Charter was during apartheid.
