Stats shows unemployment rise in Limpopo

LIMPOPO

The Democratic Alliance (DA) will table a motion with notice during the Legislature sitting to debate the high rate of unemployment in the province, the ineptness of the provincial government and its entities to effectively compete with the private sector and the failure of government to create a conducing environment for investment and job creation.

The 3rd term’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) released on November 30 revealed that Limpopo’s expanded unemployment rate has risen to 54.5%, a year-on-year increase of 7.6 percentage points.

Limpopo further recorded the second largest increase in the official unemployment rate in the 3rd quarter, up 2.1 percentage points from 30.4% to 32.5%.
These statistics effectively means that out of a workforce of 389 000, just over a million people are employed. All sectors, with the exception of construction, experienced quarter-to-quarter losses in employment:

Agriculture lost 20 000 jobs, mining lost 11 000 jobs, manufacturing lost 12 000 jobs, trade lost 31 000 jobs, community and social services lost 37 000 jobs, and private households lost 19 000 jobs.

“It is extremely concerning that despite heavy job losses over the past 18 months, Premier Stanley Mathabatha has not yet changed Limpopo’s trajectory.
“Despite a dwindling tax base, a stagnant GDP, two dormant Special Economic Zones, bankrupt government subsidiaries and a bloated public sector wage bill, it is still just business as usual for the premier and his executive,” said DA’s Risham Maharaj.

During the debate on the unemployment pandemic, the DA said it will put forward implementable plans that will get things done and effect real change to people’s lives.