Cape Town - South Africa’s unemployment rate for the first quarter of 2024 has increased by 0.8% to 32.9%, with the Western Cape suffering the most job losses in the country between January and March.
This was revealed by statistician-general Risenga Maluleke yesterday.
Provinces that recorded declining employment numbers were the Western Cape (17000), followed by North West (13 000), Mpumalanga (8 000), Eastern Cape (4 000) and Limpopo (3 000), while Free State remained unchanged.
StatsSA indicated the provinces that recorded increases in employment were KwaZulu-Natal (35 000), Gauteng (26000) and Northern Cape (4000) when compared to the previous quarter Q4:2023 and Q1:2024.
Maluleke said the working-age population increased by 137000 or 0.3% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, while the number of employed persons increased by 22 000 to 16.7 million in Q1: 2024, and the number of unemployed persons increased by 330000 to 8.2 million compared to Q4: 2023, resulting in an increase of 352 000 (up by 1.4%) in the labour force.
The latest labour force survey statistics have triggered an avalanche of criticism from various political parties as well as the labour sector.
The Western Cape government still maintains that its unemployment rate in the province is at its lowest; however, the GOOD Party believes the province is “telling lies”.
Premier Alan Winde said the province has enabled the creation of 82 000 jobs over the past year.
“The current official unemployment rate in the Western Cape now sits at 21.4%, the lowest in South Africa by a long way and 0.2% below what it was this time a year ago.
“While there is much more work to be done to get many more residents into jobs, we are making progress.
“And this is evident by the fact that there are 82 000, or 3.1%, more people in jobs in the Western Cape than there were a year ago,” said Winde.
He said that the statistics show that the Western Cape continues to have “the lowest unemployment rate in South Africa, at 21.4%; the lowest expanded unemployment rate in South Africa, at 26.1%; the highest labour absorption rate in South Africa, at 55.4%; and the highest labour force participation rate in South Africa, at 69.2%.”
However, according to Brett Herron, GOOD Party secretary-general, although the statistics showed a 0.8% increase in the overall unemployment rate, it also paints a very different picture of unemployment in the Western Cape than that depicted on DA election posters.
“The posters tell you that people in the Western Cape are working. And Western Cape Premier Alan Winde lies that the province has generated 79% of the country’s jobs over the past five years,” said Herron.
“But according to the quarterly labour survey, the Western Cape has suffered the most job losses in the country between January and March (down 17000 jobs). The second worst is North West (down 13 000), with KZN performing best with 35000 new jobs.”
Build One SA (Bosa) said there are now 11.2 million people without a job or who have given up all hope of finding a job.
“All indicators suggest this trend is a ticking time bomb that requires extraordinary intervention. In particular, 3 in every 5 young South Africans between the ages of 15 and 24 cannot find a job,” said Roger Solomons, Bosa acting spokesperson.
Cosatu spokesperson Matthew Parks said the figures are a big concern for the federation.
“While this is not unusual for the first quarter of the year, which normally follows a seasonal increase in jobs over the festive holidays and retail peak period during the fourth quarter of the year, it is nonetheless disappointing.
“Though we are frustrated by an increase in unemployment, we are heartened by indications in the jobs report that the mining, manufacturing and agricultural sectors are showing signs of recovering from the challenges they encountered in transporting their exports.”
zolani.sinxo@inl.co.za