Unemployment statistics shock Mzansi - 'This is a crisis'

15 May 2019 - 11:03 By Cebelihle Bhengu
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Each day thousands of unemployed men wait at busy intersections around the country, hoping for casual work.
Each day thousands of unemployed men wait at busy intersections around the country, hoping for casual work.
Image: Mike Hutchings/Reuters

South Africans have taken to social media to express their dismay after Statistics South Africa released the unemployment figures on Tuesday afternoon. According to Stats SA currently 16.3m South Africans currently have work, while 6.2m between the ages of 15 and 64 years are unemployed.

The report further reveals that women and youth are the most affected by unemployment, with the stats of unemployed women and youth between the ages of 25-34 years up to 52.8%. 

Since the release of these figures, South Africans are having a number of conversations about different factors which contribute directly and indirectly to the scourge of unemployment.

Skills scarcity, the need to equip the youth with entrepreneurial skills so they create jobs as opposed to looking for them, is high on the agenda, while some said it is high time government reviewed its current policies on jobs creation.  


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