'We're in pain day and night' — SA reacts as unemployment rate reaches 32.5%
South Africans are discouraged by the latest unemployment figures from Stats SA, taking to social media to share their heartbreak.
The unemployment rate in the fourth quarter of 2020 had increased by 1.7 percentage points to 32.5% compared to the third quarter.
Some blamed the ruling party for loss of employment among millions, saying joblessness was leading to depression.
The EFF said while the Covid-19 pandemic has worsened unemployment, joblessness has long been a reality in SA.
It said the ruling party must use its power to lead industrial development “based on labour-intensive initiatives and protection of infant industries”.
“This is a catastrophic state of affairs indicating the chronic failure of the government of the day. Unemployment in this country has been an economic pandemic that has characterised SA's reality for over three decades,” it said.
The Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the fourth quarter showed that the number of employed people increased by 33,000 to 15 million. The number of unemployed people also increased by 701,000 to 7.2 million.
The expanded definition of unemployment, which includes people who were not actively looking for work in the fourth quarter, is 11.1 million people.
Stats SA said employment increased in most sectors in the last quarter of 2020, except in mining and finance. In the formal sector, employment increased by 1.8% and informal sector employment was up by 2.6%.
In private households, employment increased by 6.8% and in agriculture by 0.3%.
“The industries which gained the most jobs are community and social services (170,000) and construction (86,000). Compared to quarter 4 in 2019, employment contracted in all industries. Most job losses were observed in finance (256,000), community and social services (241,000) and manufacturing (230,000)," said the report.
Here are some reactions from social media:
South Africans are in pain day & night, They suffer from depression because of #unemployment! Many have been searching for jobs for years as much as 5yrs & more I'm talking people who did their best to educate themselves against all odds to improve their lives.
— Man’s NOT Barry Roux (@AdvoBarryRoux) February 24, 2021
government must work together with economists of the country. We dont need this mass we are in. #unemploymentrate
— MrRights (@malungelo388) February 23, 2021
#Unemployment is going to trend every now and then until we run out of data due to unemployment,we vote for leaders who are not about that life,meaning that we're not about that life too
— Dr.Umuntu (@mo4lo) February 24, 2021
#unemploymentrate must be higher with the expanded definition of unemployment this time around since many people will not bother looking for jobs that don’t exist.#StatsSA
— Malume (@bozzie_t) February 24, 2021
#unemployment
— Zaine Mogolegeng (@ZainMogolegeng) February 24, 2021
Sad reality 😭 pic.twitter.com/loI7wdwa25
The government should put more emphasis on self employment instead of investing millions of Rands in teaching the youth how to make another person rich. We have to learn how to make money ourselves instead of depending on employment#unemployment
— Lebohang Ramela ☮️🇿🇦 (@koena_kgabo) February 23, 2021
Congratulations to ANC and ANC voters 🎉🎊🎉 You are doing well comrades. We'll soon hit 80%🎉 I guess that your target 🌻👍#StatsSA #Unemployment https://t.co/iuG1ZuG2Ch
— Johannes Masasane♠ (@MasasaneJ) February 23, 2021
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