KZN Premier Ntuli promises solution as unemployed graduates protest over jobs

DURBAN - A group of unemployed graduates in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has disrupted a provincial government meeting, demanding jobs.

The group has been camping outside the government offices in Pietermaritzburg since Tuesday, expressing frustration over a lack of jobs.

On Tuesday, Statistics SA announced the country's unemployment rate had risen to 33.5%.

And in recent months, unemployed graduates including doctors have taken to the streets demanding jobs.

A group of unemployed social workers slept at the doorstep of the provincial government offices overnight.

The group held banners reading: ‘We demand jobs now’ while some read ‘10 years unemployed’.

Premier Thami Ntuli and other MECs spoke to the striking workers.

He vowed the provincial government would act on their memorandum of demands.

“When I saw them, I arrived here, I felt that really I must request the Cabinet that we cannot continue as if it’s a normal day when there are citizens of the province who are unemployed and are sleeping in the streets.”

Ntuli told the crowd that the provincial government would speak to the National Treasury in order to find solutions in this regard.