EFF statement on the increased unemployment rate
29 October 2019
The EFF notes the continued rise of unemployment rates reported by Stats SA. The latest figures reported by Stats SA show that unemployment has risen to 29.1% in quarter 3 of 2019. South Africa has a labour force of 23.1 million people who are available to work, 10 million people are unemployed. 2.8 million of the 10 million unemployed people have given up and do not look for work.
The report by Stats SA shows that the current unemployment of 29.1% is the highest unemployment rate since Stats SA started measuring unemployment on a quarterly basis in 2008. At the centre of South Africa's unemployment crisis, it is young people who should be entering the job market in their transition to adulthood. All youth from different backgrounds, particularly women, are affected by the crisis of unemployment.
Most concerning about the unemployment crisis is that the employment in the informal sector declined by 53 000 jobs. The informal sector serves as an important safety net for hundreds of people who cannot find work in the formal economy and rely on the informal sector to feed their families. Often there is no other form of security outside the informal sector, and majority of people who cannot keep employment or participate in the informal sector do not qualify for social grants.
Since his appointment as a President in February 2018, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa has spent more time canvassing investors in Europe and America for shares and stocks of the financial sector in the JSE instead of prioritising stabilisation of state-owned entities to take a lead in industrialisation of South Africa's economy.
The ruling party has allowed a small group of people to have control over the economy of the country, and their interest of profit is prioritised over human life, dignity and survival. The figures by Stats SA exposes the new dawn for what it is; the same confused ruling party that outsources its thinking to overrated neoliberal institutions, and doesn't know what should be done with the high levels of unemployment.
The failure to put in place jobs protection bill and a comprehensive jobs protection fund to ensure that employers exhaust all options before they resort to retrenchments means that workers are on their own. Those who are employed will soon find themselves without a job.
The practical and sustainable way to protect existing jobs and create jobs is to stabilise state-owned entities not privatisation. SOEs must be at the centre of South Africa's industrial policy supported by a fiscal and monetary policy that prioritises job dividends over protection of the financial sector. The dependence on white monopoly capital will only lead to further job losses.
Issued by Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, National Spokesperson, EFF, 29 October 2019
