COSATU statement on last year’s 4th Quarter Unemployment numbers
29 March 2022
The Congress of South African Trade Unions has noted the recent reports by Statistics South Africa that South Africa’s official unemployment rate rose 0.4 percentage points to a record 35.3% in the fourth quarter of last year. The expanded definition of unemployment is sitting at 46.2 %. There is a real danger that it may rise in the next quarter as the war in Ukraine unfolds and the global oil and domestic fuel prices skyrocket.
This is very alarming because it means that in no time about 50% of people in the working-age population will be officially unemployed. The government’s decision to suffocate the economy by implementing a framework of economic policies that do not place employment creation as a priority but is geared at reducing the budget deficit and containing the debt burden has backfired.
The Federation is disappointed by the timid response from the government in resolving some of the most critical issues bedeviling the nation. The problem of load-shedding has left the economy bleeding, and it is disappointing that the government has failed to offer leadership on this urgent and critical issue.
The nation needs serious political leadership on what needs to be done short-term to fix the energy crisis. The price of fuel has been rising exponentially and so far, there is no solid intervention from the government to solve this problem.