QLFS: Latest unemployment statistics reinforce rudderlessness of Ramaphosa-led ANC
15 August 2023
The release of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for Q2:2023 reveals a grim reality: South Africa's unemployment crisis persists unabated while the Ramaphosa’s ANC remains at sea, unable to turn the ship around.
The ruling party’s economic policies ensure that millions of South Africans remain unemployable. Our official unemployment rate stands at 32.6%, which is a mere 0.3 % decrease from the preceding quarter.
A deeper analysis of the figures reveals that the ANC government's inability to ensure a stable power supply is perpetuating the unemployment crisis, particularly among young South Africans, and its other targeted racial interventions have backfired. Today’s numbers indicate that an alarming 3.4 million young people (accounting for 34.2% of the 15-24 age group) are not in employment, education, or training (NEET). Even more concerning is that 60.7% of South Africans in this age group are not employed at all.
Government policies have clearly not been able to tackle the structural root causes of our unemployment crisis; the ANC’s failure to relax labour market regulations and improve the quality of our education system is fueling the pandemic of joblessness.