GNU clueless on how to tackle unemployment
Image: FILE
THE increase in the official unemployment rate from 31.9% to 32.9% exposes the Government of National Unity's (GNU) "investment conferences" as gimmicks that only serve to create false sense of hope.
That is how some unions reacted to news the official unemployment rate moved upwards because 291 000 people lost their jobs quarter-on-quarter, dropping the employed workforce to 16.8 million as of March this year.
Statistics South Africa released its latest unemployment figures on Tuesday, showing that there was an increase of 1.3 percentage points of people entering the workforce, or 532 000 more working-age South Africans, which resulted in there also being more unemployed people. That figure is now 8.2 million.
StatsSA also noted that those aged between 15 and 34 years remained the most vulnerable in the job market, with both work losses and an increase in unemployed youngsters pushing that unemployment rate up to 46.1% from 44.6% quarter-on-quarter.
'The youth (15–34 years) remain vulnerable in the labour market. The results for the first quarter of 2025 show that the total number of unemployed youth increased by 151 000 to 4,8 million, while employed youth recorded a decrease of 153 000 to 5.7 million. As a result, the youth unemployment rate increased from 44.6% in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 46.1% in the first quarter of 2025,' said StatsSA.
South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said the figures underscored the deepening crisis confronting the working class and the urgent need for a radical shift in the country's macroeconomic trajectory.
'These figures are a damning indictment of South Africa's failed capitalist economic system — a system incapable of delivering decent work, reducing inequality, or ending poverty. They also expose the complete failure of the government's macroeconomic policies, which continue to serve the interests of big business and the wealthy elite, while abandoning the working class and the poor.
'The government's dogged commitment to fiscal austerity and neoliberal orthodoxy has led to the disinvestment in vital sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, and public services, resulting in job losses, factory closures, and economic stagnation.'
Vavi said the second phase of Operation Vulindlela, launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week was the latest neoliberal scheme to attract private investment — premised on de-risking and privatising strategic sectors.
'As with GEAR, AsgiSA, and other failed frameworks, Operation Vulindlela will not deliver the promised jobs or industrialisation.'
His remarks were echoed by Saftu's affiliate, the General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (Giwusa), whose president Mametlwe Sebei the GNU was not the right vehicle to steer the country out of the crisis.
'The so-called GNU continues to implement the same austerity measures, privatisations, and attacks on workers' rights that have led us to this disaster. The latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey reveals GNU and capitalism's brutal assault on the working class. The so-called "recovery" is a myth and false excitement about GNU and business confidence are misplaced as we argued. We're now back to the same 32.9% unemployment rate as Q1 2024, showing capitalism's complete inability to create lasting jobs and GNU impotence in the face of this crisis.'
DA spokesperson on employment and labour Michael Bagraim said his party's reform proposals and bold agenda should be front and centre to reverse thesituation.
'A job is more than income, it is hope for the future, security and dignity. This is why the DA's primary focus, and the DA's most important policy agenda in the GNU is to facilitate economic growth for all South Africans, and to do everything we can to foster job creation. Our country needs a growth agenda that unlocks barriers to investment, such as eliminating job quotas and economic and labour regulations that protect narrow interests and not all South Africans.'
Delivering a keynote address during a memorial lecture honouring Struggle icon Duma Dokwe, ANC secretary General Fikile Mbalula, said: 'It is our contention as the ANC that the national budget must reflect a growth path that would ensure adequate absorption of the unemployed through economic opportunities for entrepreneurs and expansion of existing businesses…Our young people must embrace the philosophy of lifelong learning in order to become agents for transformation who have the necessary capacity to decisively tackle the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality.'
Additional reporting Nicola Mawson.
Cape Times
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