‘Unemployment rate alarming’
The Stats SA Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) revealed that during the period of March 2020 to March 2021, 139 000 people lost their jobs in Limpopo.
Risham Maharaj, a Member of the Provincial Legislature (MPL) for the DA has called on Premier, Chupu Mathabatha to urgently focus on infrastructure projects that will not only create jobs, but will also attract investments, and to assist and incentivise small enterprises, as in the tourism sector, which focuses on the employment of women and the youth.
Maharaj spoke on the backdrop of the Stats SA Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) which revealed that during the period of March 2020 to March 2021, 139 000 people lost their jobs in Limpopo, resulting in untold hardships currently endured by many families.
“The 139 000 year-on-year lost jobs translates to a 10% decline in employment in Limpopo, which is the highest nationally. During the quarter under review the province lost 33 000 jobs.”
The stats were released on 1 June which revealed a foreboding reality of the people of Limpopo and the DA says this is concerning. “The DA acknowledges that the official unemployment rate for Limpopo increased by 2,1 percentage points from 27,3% to 29,4% in the fourth quarter, but this is cold comfort as the expanded unemployment rate of 49,5% is the true reflection as experienced by the people in the province.”
He says that the Expanded Unemployment Rate (EUR), which increased by five percentage points from 44,5% in March 2020 to 49,5% in March 2021 is the second highest nationally behind the Eastern Cape who recorded an EUR of 49,6%. According to Maharaj, this means one out of two persons in the workforce cannot find a job, or have given up all hope of finding a job, but the first quarter did show some recovery in the mining, transport and community and social services sectors.
“We are further pleased to see that the agricultural sector remains a steady source of job creation which continues to create economic opportunities for mainly the rural parts of our province. Year-on-year losses in manufacturing is at 27%, utilities at 42%, construction at 32%, trade at 21% and private households at 27,8% resulted in job losses of mainly unskilled workers who will struggle to find work in the current economic climate.
Maharaj says with determined political will, Limpopo’s natural resources and scenic beauty can be unleashed to create jobs and prosperity.
