SEKHUKHUNE
Limpopo Province is facing crises in unemployment, with the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the province warning that failing municipalities and severe staff shortages are undermining service delivery across Limpopo.
Following these concerns, DA has called on the provincial government to fix local government and urgently address critical gaps in employment opportunities.
According to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey released for Quarter 2 in 2026, Limpopo official unemployment rate rose from 31.7% in Quarter 1 to 32.0%, which is well above the 28.2% recorded in the final quarter of 2025.
More concerning, according to DA, the province’s expanded unemployment rate now stands at 46.7%. Stats SA has flagged Limpopo as one of the provinces where the gap between official and expanded unemployment exceeds 14 percentage points.
“When discouraged work-seekers and others who could work but are not actively searching are included, almost one in every two people in Limpopo’s extended labour force is without work,” said Lindy Wilson, DA Limpopo Spokesperson on the Office of the Premier.
She added that the party has noted that Limpopo created virtually no new employment during the quarter, while thousands more people joined the ranks of the unemployed.
Wilson linked the jobs crisis directly to the state of local government. “Turning this around must include fixing the way our failing municipalities are governed and getting local government working again,” she said.
She argued that municipalities cannot create every job, but they can either enable economic growth or stand in its way.
According to Wilson, unreliable water and electricity, deteriorating roads, mismanaged municipal finances and excessive bureaucracy are deterring investment.
She also highlighted outward migration, stating that Stats SA migration data identifies the Limpopo-to-Gauteng route as one of South Africa’s largest internal migration streams, with employment cited as a major reason people move.
“Too many Limpopo residents are leaving the province in search of opportunities they cannot find at home. This should not be the reality of a province blessed with enormous agricultural potential, mineral wealth, tourism assets, and a strategic position as South Africa’s gateway to the north,” Wilson said.
Wilson indicated that the DA’s 2026 Local Government Election Manifesto proposes professional municipalities staffed by competent people, reliable basic services, maintained infrastructure, sound financial management, less unnecessary red tape and local governments that actively enable investment and economic growth.
“For Limpopo to create jobs, its municipalities must work. Limpopo should be a province where people can build their future, not a province they have to leave to find one,” concluded Wilson.