While it remains stubbornly above the country’s average, the Eastern Cape’s unemployment rate is declining at an encouraging pace, with more than 83,000 jobseekers having found work between July and September.
The province’s unemployment rate dropped from 41% in the second quarter of 2024 to 37.2% in Q3, a decrease of 3.8 percentage points.
This represents the second largest decrease in the unemployment rate after North West province, where the unemployment rate decreased by 4.5 percentage points.
This is according to Stats SA’s quarterly labour force survey report released on Tuesday.
Despite the slight dent in unemployment figures, the Eastern Cape remains in top spot when it comes to unemployment across the country.
However, with 83,000 people finding jobs here in the third quarter of the year, the province recorded the highest gains in employment compared with all other provinces in SA. It was followed closely by the Western Cape, which created 75,000 jobs in the period.
Job gains in the Eastern Cape were recorded in the agriculture, construction, community and social services, trade industries and the manufacturing sectors.
The province’s expanded unemployment figure also dropped from 49.7% in the second quarter of 2024 to 47.4% in the third.
The expanded unemployment rate refers to unemployed people who are willing and able to work, but not actively seeking jobs.
The country’s overall official unemployment rate also decreased by 1.4 of a percentage point to 32.1% in the third quarter of 2024.
Buffalo City Metro’s unemployment rate decreased from 33.7% in quarter two to 30.1% in the third quarter, while a huge decrease was recorded in Nelson Mandela Bay, from 30.9% between April and June, to 24.5% in the third quarter.
Premier Oscar Mabuyane welcomed the “significant increase” in the province’s job figures.
“This upward trend is an indication of the province’s unwavering commitment to creating an enabling environment for job creation and stimulating economic growth.
“The increase is a welcome milestone in our journey towards building a prosperous Eastern Cape.”
The premier attributed this progress to targeted job creation initiatives, skills development programmes and support for small businesses.
DA MPL Vicky Knoetze said more needed to be done.
“Urgent reforms are needed to break the grip of unemployment on the Eastern Cape, with the latest statistics showing that the province once again has the highest unemployment rate in the country.
“The stats show that despite new job creation compared to the previous quarter, the province was the only one to register a year-on-year employment decline, with a loss of 7,000 jobs compared to the same period in 2023.
“For the people of the Eastern Cape, persistently high unemployment has become a devastating reality, stripping countless families of security and hope.
“Every missed opportunity to find work is more than a statistic, it represents a parent unable to provide basic necessities, a young person whose dreams are sidelined, and communities where despair has taken the place of ambition.”
Knoetze said outside the province’s two metros, the effect of persistent unemployment, where the expanded rate of unemployment for this quarter is a staggering 56.6%, was devastating.
She called for the urgent adoption of sustainable economic policies.
“By focusing on equal access to economic opportunities … we can bolster economic participation for those most affected by long-term unemployment.”
EFF MPL Simthembile Madikizela said the unemployment rate was still “high and unaccepted”.
“Our province has the potential to reduce unemployment only if all sectors come to the party, especially the province’s economic cluster.
“Agriculture has a huge potential, and we need huge investment in it to ensure job opportunities are created.
“We deliberately focus on sectors with huge potential for the participation of the private sector, but the government needs to play a central role in policy development and creation of a conducive environment for economic activities.”
Black Business Forum president Luthando Bara welcomed the unemployment rate reduction.
“This impressive reduction is a testament to the effectiveness of the provincial leadership in creating sustainable job opportunities and driving economic recovery.
“In a time when many provinces are struggling to stem the tide of joblessness, the Eastern Cape stands out as a beacon of progress, demonstrating that focused leadership and strategic planning can yield tangible results.”
He urged the provincial government to continue fostering innovation, supporting entrepreneurship and creating opportunities.
Provincial ANC spokesperson Gift Ngqondi said the improvement was the result of economic reforms implemented by the provincial government, which had boosted increased infrastructure investment to place the economy on the centre stage “because we believe that sustainable economic growth is possible if we seek meaningful partnerships locally and globally”.
“We remain committed to working together with labour, business and the local and international investment community to drive economic growth, which is necessary to address unemployment and poverty,” he said.
Only KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo provinces had failed to record decreases in unemployment rates during the period.
Job losses were recorded in Gauteng (66,000) and KwaZulu-Natal (2,000) during the same period.
Across the country, there was an increase of 294,000 people employed, taking the number of those employed to 16.9-million in quarter three of 2024, while there was a decrease of 373,000 in the number of unemployed people to eight-million.
These results, according to statistician-general Risenga Maluleke, indicate that across the country, discouraged work-seekers increased by 160,000 (up by 5%), and the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement increased by 54,000 (up by 0.4%) between the second and third quarters of 2024.
“This led to an increase of 214,000 in the number of the not economically active population to 16.5-million,” he said.
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