The youth vote will be crucial in this year’s South African elections, and the ruling African National Congress government is courting young people on a promise of jobs, BusinessDayLive reports.

Jobs and the economy will be the major focus of the ANC’s 2014 national election campaign, said party Secretary General Gwede Mantashe.

The election date is not set, but is expected to be held sometime from April to July 2014.

The campaign manifesto is expected to be unveiled Friday in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, and launched at a rally at Mbombela Stadium Saturday, according to BusinessDayLive.

The focus on jobs and economic growth comes as the ANC government this year launched a youth wage subsidy to reward business for employing young people who are first-time job seekers.

The ANC’s move signals the realization that the youth vote will be crucial in this year’s elections, political analyst Ralph Mathekga said Tuesday.

The ANC needs to be seen as sympathetic to the aspirations of the masses of disgruntled young people who play a central role in violent service delivery protests, Mathekga said.

The ANC will look to the government’s trillion-rand infrastructure roll-out plan to unlock job opportunities, and continue to use incentives to encourage the private sector to employ more people, he said.

The new manifesto will build on the 2009 election manifesto, Mantashe Tuesday at a media briefing at an ANC national executive committee meeting in Nelspruit.

The ANC was established on Jan. 8 1912, and came to power after South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994.

“There will be a major emphasis on jobs and the economy, particularly youth unemployment,” Mantashe said. The manifesto will be more than “a list of promises.”

South Africa’s National Development Plan has a long-term government goal that includes creating 11-million jobs by 2030.