South African soldiers are being killed in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) near the Rwandan border and no one in South Africa was informed: Why are South African troops fighting there? For whom and for what?
Who invited the South African troops to fight there? Why do we get involved in internal and domestic problems confronting other countries in Africa? Most South Africans want to know why other countries like Nigeria or Egypt are not involved in the civil war in the DRC, and spend their financial resources on funding these wars.
The South African government must inform its citizens.
More than 35% of our young people are without jobs. In Europe, especially in the Eastern European countries they have a shortage of agricultural workers and they are recruiting workers from India, Thailand and Nepal. Our government could contact these countries and ask them to recruit our youth to work there too.
When the apartheid government was unable to get white immigrants from Northern Europe and Britain they recruited unskilled workers from Greece and Madeira in Portugal. The apartheid government gave these immigrants money to establish shops, supermarkets, and cafés. They were given rent to pay for the buildings and given money to buy the groceries. They established themselves successfully and were not unemployed.
The South African government can apply the same policy to create employment for our youth. I am sure it will be successful and we can reduce youth unemployment easily. We should not forget the youth are the future of our beloved country.
* Dr Sears Appalsamy, Breda, Netherlands.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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