More than 77,000 Eastern Cape workers lost their jobs between January and March this year, resulting in the province again recording the country’s worst unemployment rate.
The unemployment rate of 42.4% means almost half the province’s more than three-million citizens do not have a job.
The expanded unemployment figure stands at 49.1%.
The province recorded a 41.9% unemployment rate in the last quarter of 2023, while its expanded rate was at 47.1% in that period.
The expanded unemployment rate refers to the unemployed people who are willing and able to work, but not actively seeking jobs.
The country’s overall official unemployment rate increased by 0.8 of a percentage point to 32.9% in the first quarter of 2024, compared with the fourth quarter of 2023, with the official unemployment rate increasing in all provinces.
This is according to Stats SA’s quarterly labour force survey, released on Tuesday.
The report said provinces that recorded increases in employment were KwaZulu-Natal (35,000), Gauteng (26,000) and the Northern Cape (4,000), when comparing the fourth quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024.
Those that recorded decreases in employment were the Western Cape (where 17,000 were employed), followed by North West (13,000), Mpumalanga (8,000), the Eastern Cape (4,000) and Limpopo (3,000), while the Free State remained unchanged.
These results, according to Stats SA’s chief director of labour statistics, Desiree Manamela, indicate that the number of employed people across SA increased by 22,000 to 16.7-million in the first quarter of 2024 compared with the fourth quarter of 2023.
Manamela said the number of unemployed people across SA increased by 330,000 to 8.2-million in the same quarter.
“Additionally, the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement decreased by 214,000 to 13.1-million, while discouraged work-seekers decreased by 1,000 in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.
“This resulted in a net decrease of 215,000 in the not economically active population.”
The Eastern Cape was one of only three that recorded a decrease in employment, with only 4,000 people having been employed in the quarter.
In BCM, 33.8% of its citizens remain unemployed, while in Nelson Mandela Bay 32.4% are without jobs.
BCM’s unemployment rate increased from 27.8% during the same period last year, while Nelson Mandela Bay’s decreased from the 33.9% achieved in the first quarter of 2023.
These latest revelations did not sit well with some, with the DA saying the province “needs a dramatic intervention to chart a new course, starting with building a capable state at all levels of government”.
Party leader in the Bhisho legislature, Bobby Stevenson, said it was a concern that “the inferno of unemployment continues to blaze its way throughout the Eastern Cape”.
“The hopes and dreams of our people, particularly the youth, are simply going up in smoke.”
Stevenson said it was a concern that unemployment in the province was rising, and any temporary gains made had now been wiped out.
“When you look at the expanded unemployment figure in Nelson Mandela Bay and BCM, the picture is even bleaker, with 57% without work.
“The flames of unemployment leap from town to town, leaving brokenness in its wake.
“The Eastern Cape deserves a rising tide of hope, rather than a rising tide of unemployment.
“These latest figures simply extend the nightmare of shattered dreams and opportunities that the people of this province long for.”
Stevenson said the province needed a “dramatic intervention”.
Cosatu provincial chair Gura Maleki said the new stats were “a deep concern”.
“It is quite concerning that the figures are on a constant rise, particularly because unemployment is a ticking time bomb, especially for the youth, that can explode at any time.”
Maleki said more jobs could be created in the province if the state would do away with outsourcing, and temporarily employed people should be made permanent.
The trade union federation also called for all funded vacant posts in the government to be filled as a matter of urgency, while a radical effort to lure investors should be the order of the day.
“We know work is being done to woo investors, but we need to see the outcome of such work which should result in more of our people being employed.”
EFF provincial chair Zilindile Vena said communities were not benefiting from perceived investments in the province.
“This just shows that people here are being taken for granted by this government which only dispenses patronage to those close to it.
“We are not surprised that everyone is leaving the province, because there is nothing to benefit them here.
“We are always clapping hands for investors, but such investments are only there on paper.
“However, our people on the ground are not benefiting and continue to suffer and that is worrying.”
Vena said agriculture could be used as a good job catalyst in the province, “if political will is there”.
ActionSA’s Eastern Cape chair Athol Trollip said the latest unemployment figures were “not a surprise”.
“What is of the greatest concern is that the youth unemployment figures are almost double that, at around 70%, and that is a recipe for revolution ...
“This government has failed miserably and continues to fail.”
Three weeks ago, President Cyril Ramaphosa promised five-million jobs to Eastern Cape residents while in East London to celebrate 20 years of the government’s Expanded Public Works Programme, meant to create jobs for unemployed workers in the province.
Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane’s spokesperson, Yanga Funani, said: “We note the recent labour quarterly report. We are still studying it sector by sector.
“However, fighting unemployment is a continuous struggle.
“That is why the province is on a drive to attract investment.
“That investment drive netted over R171bn for the Eastern Cape economy.
“That has resulted in thousands of jobs being created.”
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