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UN tells South Africa to focus on Unemployment as jobless count soars

August 16, 2023

(3 minutes read)

The United Nations and other experts have warned that South Africa’s present level of unemployment at nearly 33% was a matter of concern and termed the situation as a time bomb ticking. They also warned that this could even lead to political instability. More than half of the country’s young people are jobless resulting in rising levels of poverty. The inequality is fuelling social ills like crime and drug use among young people in sub-Saharan Africa’s most developed economy.

The UN told South Africa to rein in unemployment through proactive government interventions so that it would not cross 40%, a likelihood that(If) the unemployment rate grows like this by 2030. According to the UN, qualified graduates are doing menial jobs while others have resorted to recycling to earn a living in a country that has shed more than 2 million jobs since the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to South Africa’s electricity crisis, which has resulted in daily power blackouts, unemployment has already emerged as a key election issue that political parties will have to confront when they campaign for the 2024 general elections. Analysts say the official unemployment number doesn’t even count those who have given up on finding work and dropped off the grid. They say a more accurate assessment would be that nearly 42% of South Africa’s working-age population is unemployed.

South Africa has the highest unemployment rate in the world, according to the World Bank, outstripping Gaza and the West Bank, Djibouti, and Kosovo. When it comes to youth unemployment, the rate is 61% of 15- to 24-year-olds, according to official statistics. and a staggering 71% if one counts those who are no longer trying.

South Africa’s unemployment had risen steadily over the last two decades before the COVID-19 pandemic stripped another 2 million jobs. The U.N. referred specifically to a week in 2021 when riots and looting left more than 350 people dead in the country’s worst violence since the last days of apartheid

South Africa’s GDP needs to grow by 6% a year to start creating enough jobs just for the 700,000 people who enter the workforce every year, according to experts. South Africa’s growth hasn’t approached that much-needed figure for more than a decade. Its economy — which grew by 2% last year — is expected to grow by less than 1% this year and between 1% and 2% for the next five years.