Mr Speaker, nearly four months have passed since the Budget Speech, when Minister Gordhan announced the National Treasury's intention to implement a youth employment tax incentive. Today millions of young South Africans are still waiting, unemployed and with baited breath, for any sign from Treasury that it intends to follow through with its latest proposal to create jobs for them.
The youth wage subsidy was the Treasury's last good idea and would have created 200 000 jobs for young people but we all remember how the ANC's alliance partner, the Congress of SA Trade Unions, successfully blocked that policy for three years by refusing to debate it at the National Economic Development and Labour Council.
Now the DA calls on the Finance Minister, or any Minister here today - perhaps hon Cronin would like to let us hear his views - to end their silence on the youth employment tax incentive, Yeti, and explain whether it will be implemented, when they intend implementing it, how government intends getting approval from the Nedlac constituencies - labour, business and civil society - that the misguided Youth Employment Accord now requires to give approval for any new employment incentive.
We cannot allow this government's job creation plans to continue to be held hostage by Cosatu and Cosatu-aligned Ministers, who are delaying the implementation of the youth employment tax incentive. South African's unemployed youth have waited long enough.