SOUTH AFRICAN WOMEN BEAR BRUNT OF UNEMPLOYMENT

WITH the highest unemployment rate in the world, efforts to reverse the impact of Covid-19 on the country's economy and employment will continue to be an uphill battle unless there is a focus on government policy implementation.

This was the reaction of unions, experts and civil society following the announcement by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) that the number of unemployed persons increased by 584 000, to 7.8 million compared to the first quarter of 2021.

The results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), for the second quarter of 2021, show that the number of employed persons decreased by 54 000 in the second quarter of 2021 to 14.9 million.

These changes resulted in the official unemployment rate increasing by 1.8% from 32.6% in the first quarter of 2021 to 34.4% in the second quarter of 2021 – the highest since the start of the QLFS in 2008.

At 25.8%, the Western Cape has the lowest unemployment rate in the country.

The results also indicate that the South African labour market is more favourable to men than it is to women – the rate of unemployment among women was 36.8% compared to 32.4% among men, with men more likely to be in paid employment than women, regardless of race.

UWC Department of Economics Professor Matthew Ocran said the results were not surprising.

“The R500bn relief from the government was poorly structured and administered. The R200bn Covid-19 Loan Guarantee Scheme, which was part of the R500bn relief from the government, earmarked for businesses, saw very low disbursement rates. Therefore, businesses had no meaningful support to absorb the shocks from the impact of the pandemic and the associated lockdowns. It is, therefore, not surprising that the unemployment rate is soaring,” Ocran said.

More importantly, the economy was already weak – even before the pandemic, he said.

“Until the much-talked-about structural reforms are tackled with all seriousness, the capacity of the economy to grow would be constrained. And unless the constraints are removed, there can be no meaningful growth,” said Ocran.

The statistics showed formal sector employment decreased by 375 000, while informal sector employment increased by 184 000.

Prof Dieter von Fintel, of the Department of Economics at Stellenbosch University, said people were considered unemployed if they had been looking for work in the last four weeks.

“This group has expanded rapidly to grow unemployment to record highs: these are likely people who lost jobs during the hard lockdown, temporarily stopped looking for jobs and ‘sitting it out' in the bad economic climate, and are now – out of necessity brought on by the toll of lockdowns – looking for work in large numbers, despite the poor prospects for finding such work. There are too few new jobs for these job-seekers. Many of them are in the 15-24 age group.

“What we are seeing is very similar to earlier economic downturns in the past. Employers follow a ‘wait-and-see' approach before they understand the risks of the new economic climate and, therefore hold back on creating new work opportunities,” he said.

“While unrest has contributed to this situation, the fact that unemployment has grown across the country suggests that that was not the only factor, rather, the pandemic has had the more significant impact, and this poses risks for further social and political stability,” Von Fintel said.

Chief economist at the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern African (Seifsa) Chifipa Mhango said the government needed to urgently focus on job creation efforts, as it tried to revive the economy.

In some instances an Officer Commanding had used his own personal funds just to provide his troops with a meal for the day, according to the union.

“The situation is further exacerbated by the fact that deployed troops in Gauteng under the same operation have had ample access to rations and/or meal allowances to sustain them during deployment. This anomalous situation is being circulated among troops and ranks deployed everywhere.

“Sandu have for the past four days attempted to engage higher level command structures in an attempt to resolve this unacceptable situation. However, no official could provide Sandu with any proposed solution or plan of action.

“In the meantime, hundreds of troops are being prejudiced to the extreme while their Officers Commanding are placed in a precarious and awkward position as the latter have no viable explanation and/or solution forthcoming from their higher chain of command. We, therefore, hold instructions to urge your office to urgently intervene in this matter failing which we reserve our clients’ rights,” said the lawyers.

The SANDF did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.