{"id":10854,"date":"2026-01-08T08:42:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T08:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/10854\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T08:42:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T08:42:26","slug":"mantashe-roasted-over-basking-in-the-sun-unemployment-remarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/10854\/","title":{"rendered":"Mantashe roasted over \u2018basking in the sun\u2019 unemployment remarks"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe<\/a> has sparked outrage with remarks suggesting that unemployed citizens are overly dependent on the government to provide jobs rather than actively seeking employment.<\/p>\n

During an interview with the SABC regarding the party\u2019s governance record, Mantashe said he was satisfied with the ANC\u2019s delivery but criticised citizens for failing to be proactive. He urged the unemployed to stop \u201cbasking in the sun\u201d and start applying for the opportunities he claims the ANC government has created.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ANC has given you a fishing rod \u2014 must it now catch fish for you?\u201d he asked. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am now over 70. I\u2019ve never had a government look for a job for me. Today, because there is a progressive government, people expect that government to [must] give them jobs. They don\u2019t look for jobs themselves, and that must change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mantashe emphasised a need for a cultural shift: \u201cYou queue for a job, you look for the advert, and you apply in real terms. We must move away from being a \u2018parcel society\u2019 and become an active society.\u201d<\/p>\n

These remarks triggered an immediate backlash on social media, with many labelling his comments insensitive, given South Africa\u2019s staggering unemployment rate.<\/p>\n

Former public protector and current MK Party Mpumalanga convenor Busisiwe Mkhwebane described the statements as \u201cirresponsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMantashe, if you knew how many applications unemployed graduates and those without qualifications submit, you would never utter such an irresponsible statement,\u201d she said. \u201cYour family and those close to you are not exposed to the poverty and unemployment our families endure. You are so distant from reality, and it is sad.\u201d<\/p>\n

MK Party MP Mzwanele Manyi argued that Mantashe was not speaking as a misunderstood elder but as a \u201ccareer politician defending an indefensible record.\u201d <\/p>\n

He attributed the high unemployment rate directly to the ANC\u2019s three decades in power.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not blunt honesty; it is political contempt dressed up as advice. Unemployment in South Africa is not an accident… it is the direct outcome of policy choices that hollowed out industry and protected monopoly capital while the productive base collapsed. To now blame the unemployed is an act of cowardice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manyi further suggested that Mantashe\u2019s remarks reveal a governing elite that has run out of ideas.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is easier to accuse people of laziness than to explain why an economy rich in minerals and labour cannot generate work. It is easier to lecture than to account for load-shedding, logistics collapse, and de-industrialisation.\u201d<\/p>\n

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba joined the chorus of criticism, blaming the ANC for the crisis through failed economic policies, corruption, the looting of state resources, and cadre deployment.<\/p>\n

\u201cMantashe is unrelenting in his personal mission to insult poor and unemployed South Africans,\u201d Mashaba said. \u201cI wonder whether this is official ANC policy. The ANC government is, to a large part, responsible for the state of unemployment in South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are more reactions from social media:<\/p>\n

Gwede Mantashe says you\u2019re unemployed because you\u2019re not looking for jobs. You\u2019re sitting on your laurels waiting for the government to bring jobs to you. Meaning jobs are there, you\u2019re just not applying\ud83e\udd14. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve heard anything more nonsensical in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Siza Zungu (@Zah_Zungu) January 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Haybo lo Tata\u2026 we are not lazy, we are tired \ud83d\ude2d juggling jobs, side hustles, load-shedding, taxis, fuel prices and still making it to work. That\u2019s not relaxing, that\u2019s survival mode<\/p>\n

\u2014 In A Nutshell\ud83e\udd5c (@Markosonke1) January 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Telling people to look for work while his government has collapsed the economy shows how tone deaf these people are.
Jobs come from competent leadership and functioning infrastructure. This government has delivered neither.<\/p>\n

\u2014 JayL (@NoSpinZA) January 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

TimesLIVE<\/p>\n