THE Eastern Cape now has the highest unemployment rate in the country together with the Free State, both at 34.4.%, according to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey, released by Statistics South Africa today.
In a statement by DA MPL Bobby Stevenson this morning, he said the Eastern Cape also had the highest expanded rate of unemployment, of 44.5%, after the Northern Cape.
“The Eastern Cape is once again paying the price of political uncertainty when it comes to investment for job creation. Unless we get the politics right, we will not get our economy right. The best way to fire up our economy is for the National Assembly to fire President Jacob Zuma tomorrow and end the scourge of state capture. “
This, together with economic policy reforms, could put the country on an improved growth trajectory, he said.
The Eastern Cape’s unemployment rate went up by 2.2 percentage points, from 32.2% in the first quarter of 2017 (January to March) to 34.4% in the second quarter (April-June 2017).
This means that in the second quarter, a total of 743 000 people in the province were without jobs, compared to 684 000 in the first quarter. This represents a total of 59 000 more people who are unable to put bread on the table for their families. Of this, the most job losses occurred in manufacturing (21 000) and construction (29 000).
“The hardship of unemployment is wreaking havoc amongst families as they battle to pay for schooling, food and medical expenses. Companies in South Africa are sitting on at least R1.4-trillion in cash that should be invested for the benefit of growing our economy but the current political direction in the country is resulting in an investment strike. A change in government is needed to put us on a new growth path of opportunity as the ANC’s policies are working against the people and not for the people. ”
