Latest data paints grim picture for job seekers
File: A job seeker's CV. Getty Images/peepo
JOHANNESBURG - Over 200,000 more people are jobless in South Africa.
According to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey published by Stats SA, the unemployment rate increased to 32.9 percent in the first three months of the year.
This means over eight million people are currently without jobs.
There were losses across sectors, including trade and construction.
Labour analyst Terry Bell discusses this further.
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Lessons from Singapore In his closing remarks, Kadish offered a bold suggestion: learn from Singapore, long held as a symbol of fostering economic development, particularly small businesses and services in the financial sector. 'Early-stage startups there pay no tax on their first $250,000 in income,' he said. 'Investors also pay no capital gains tax, provided they invest early. And the government will match private investment rand-for-rand.' Rather than handing out grants with minimal repayment pressure — often abused and never recovered — Kadish proposed co-investment models, tax incentives and tighter public-private partnerships that reward both performance and transparency. South Africa's current grant schemes, by contrast, often suffer from weak repayment enforcement, limited milestone tracking and low auditability. 'Let the government earn upside too,' he argued. 'Let's get creative with how we fund risk.' Shepherding from incubators to ecosystems Patel warned against romanticising incubators or JSE boardroom mentorships as panaceas to the real challenges that those starting businesses really face. 'Executives aren't entrepreneurs,' noted Patel. 'They have different skill sets — and while their advice can be valuable, it's not always informed by the daily triage of early-stage entrepreneurship.' He highlighted initiatives at Regent Business School like the RED (Regent Enterprise Development) Hub, where students blend theory, practice and entrepreneurship into job-making ventures. Projects like biowaste-to-energy converters and automated irrigation rigs are already showing promise. The real ask of regulation: enabling, not overreach If there was one message from both speakers, it was this: the government must enable, not entangle. Patel put it plainly: 'We need electricity. Roads. Data access that's not the most expensive in the world. Regulation that protects, not paralyses.' Kadish agreed, offering a crucial perspective on the importance of basic infrastructure in enabling an environment that facilitates business development, contrasting South Africa with a country in a much more challenging situation. 'Even in Ukraine, under bombardment, the trains run. The lights stay on. Here, it often feels like war just trying to keep your bakery open,' he said. 'We talk about SMEs being critical,' concluded Moodley. 'But until support becomes accessible at scale, it's just talk.' For a country that claims SMEs are the future, South Africa has a long way to go in making that future viable. DM
