TimesLIVE reports that the latest employment and unemployment data released by Stats SA on Tuesday, which showed a slight decrease in unemployment, are said to mean “very little” to millions of South Africans who are languishing across the country after years of exclusion from the labour market.

This was said by the Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) in reaction to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, which showed that official unemployment decreased from 32.9% in the first quarter of 2023 to 32.6% in the second quarter. “While we acknowledge that the increase of the number of employed people by 154,000 to 16.3-million in the second quarter is better than a decline, we believe that much effort ought to be placed on reviving the economy to enable job creation,” the labour federation said. It pointed out that it was now almost three years since President Cyril Ramaphosa launched an economic recovery plan to a joint sitting of parliament “and we are yet to witness the fruits of the employment stimulus that was meant to create jobs and support livelihoods.” Fedusa noted: “Businesses and industry have spelt out what is needed to enable them to create jobs. However, even with that clarity, we are still faced with this bleak reality.”

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ernest Mabuza at TimesLIVE

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