POTCHEFSTROOM - South Africa cannot afford to celebrate small gains while ignoring the bigger picture.
These were the words from Free SA, in response to the latest unemployment statistics.
South Africa’s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for Q4 2024 shows a marginal decline in unemployment, with 132,000 more people employed and 20,000 fewer unemployed.
This brings the official unemployment rate down from 32.1% to 31.9%.
While Free SA Free SA spokesperson, Ruben Coetzer welcomes the progress in tackling unemployment,
He says that this slight improvement does not change the fundamental crisis that continues to plague the country’s labour market.
Coetzer said South Africa’s 31.9% unemployment rate remains alarmingly high compared to the global average of just 5%.
He explained how the country consistently ranks among the top five nations with the highest unemployment rates across the world
Coetzer said South Africa urgently needs to prioritise private sector-driven growth.
"We can not continue to pursue the current economic path we are on as well. We need radical change in the economic policies that we are pursuing to unlock the private sector, unlock growth, and create jobs for many South Africans, especially for the youth of our country which is left behind when it comes to employment. "
Coetzer said he has noted how the government remains overly reliant on public sector employment but cannot create the amount of jobs needed considering the country's unemployment rate.
"Some of these policies would be to take away the red tape that is hindering the private sector to allow for private sector competition to lower taxes for the private sector as well.
"We need to create an environment where the private sector, entrepreneurs as well as the small and medium enterprises can flourish and have the capital to expand," he said adding that this expansion would bring more money into the economy and equally create more jobs.