Western Cape is leading creator of employment

SOUTH Africa has an appallingly high unemployment rate of 27.1% at the last measurement – close to the highest it has ever been, and among the worst in the world – making job creation one of the primary campaigning points in the lead up to elections.

This national figure is an improvement of 0.4% from the previous measure in the third quarter of 2018.

Broken down by province, Limpopo and the Western Cape lead the way with the lowest unemployment rate.

According to Statistics SA’s most recent report, for the fourth quarter of 2018, Limpopo province has the lowest rate at 16.5%, with Western Cape following at 19.3%. The Eastern Cape is worst off, with a staggering 36% of people unemployed.

The Western Cape was also among the three provinces showing the highest growth in jobs in the fourth quarter of 2018. With 26 000 jobs gained, behind Gauteng’s 86 000 and Free State’s 33 000.

In her final State of the Province address, outgoing Western Cape Premier Helen Zille said her administration had created 508 000 new jobs in the province compared to the third quarter report in 2009.

“It is worth mentioning that if every province had done that, South Africa would be close to the 5 million job opportunities Jacob Zuma promised the country by 2020,” Zille said.

According to her report, employment in the Western Cape grew by 24.8% between 2009 and 2018, while Gauteng grew 18.6% and KwaZulu Natal grew 8.8%. Zille also said the province has the lowest rural unemployment rate, at 15.7%.

Zille added that according to jobs search engine Adzuna, Cape Town is the city with the most job opportunities, based on an analysis of 140 000 vacancies at the start of this year.

The job sectors showing the most growth nationally were finance and business services, which added 109 000 new jobs between the third and fourth quarter of 2018, followed by private households, manufacturing, mining, trade and agriculture. These sectors accounted for an additional 149 000 jobs in the fourth quarter of last year.

However, industries that had to cut jobs included community and social services, transport, utilities and construction. The manufacturing industry saw a promising boost last year, to hit its highest growth rate in the past five years.

Major drivers behind this increase were the food and beverages industry, as well as automotive manufacturing.