Church official: Boost in skills training to help poor South Africans

Published: 2006-03-07

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- South Africa's poor majority will start to feel the benefits of South Africa's booming economy when government spending on skills training increases, a church official said. "If the government pumps more money into the development of skills," as promised in its annual national budget, "the lives of those who struggle to find consistent work will improve," Kabelo Selema, who heads the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference justice and peace department, said in a telephone interview from Pretoria. In his budget speech in Parliament in mid-February, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said South Africa's economy is expected to grow at about 5 percent a year for the next three years. At 0.5 percent of gross domestic product, South Africa's deficit is at its lowest in more than two decades. But analysts say most South Africans believe they are not benefiting from the country's economic boom, and poor public services in many urban areas around the country have led to sometimes violent protests.

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