The latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey has highlighted a severe economic challenge in the Eastern Cape, recording the highest provincial unemployment rate in the country at 44.6%. The expanded unemployment rate has risen above 54%, indicating that more than half of the province’s working-age residents are without jobs. The data points to a deepening crisis affecting major districts, including OR Tambo.
Nationally, 8.1 million people are unemployed and actively seeking work. In the Eastern Cape, the official unemployment rate stands at approximately 45%, while the expanded rate, which includes working-age individuals who have stopped actively looking for employment after exhausting opportunities, reaches 54%.
Youth unemployment remains particularly acute. The rate for those aged 15 to 34 is 43%, rising sharply to 60% for the 15-24 age group. On the ground, many households rely on informal and piece jobs for survival. One young honours graduate in Mthatha, for example, has resorted to selling cupcakes and muffins roadside after losing hope of securing formal employment.
Frustration is growing across the province. On Workers’ Day (1 May), unemployed young people gathered in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality to voice their discontent despite possessing qualifications. Business chambers and organisations such as NAVCOK have raised concerns about the sustainability of government initiatives. Programmes like the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) are criticised for being short-term — typically lasting only a year on a rotational basis — without guarantees of permanent employment.
Sectors such as agriculture and trade show relatively higher employment levels. However, there is a notable shortage of skills in manufacturing as well as in utilities, including electricity, water, gas, and sewage supply. Local economic development programmes are viewed as critical for alleviating poverty, creating sustainable jobs, and supporting small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs).
Stakeholders, including business chambers in regular engagement with district, provincial, and national officials, continue to call for the implementation of viable, long-term solutions to address the crisis and reintegrate those who have fallen out of the labour market, including many affected since the COVID-19 period.
