Minister of Employment and Labour Thulas Nxesi wants to add as many as 2 million new jobs before the next elections as the nation grapples with one of the highest unemployment rates in the world.
About 12 million South Africans are without jobs. Unemployment according to the expanded definition, which includes people who were available for work but not looking for a job, is at 45.5% – the highest rate on a list of 82 countries monitored by Bloomberg — although some of the data is outdated. Africa’s most-industrialized nation will go to the polls to elect its next president in 2024.
Nxesi’s jobs target adds up to the number of people who were rendered unemployed at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Strict labor laws, stagnant productivity, bureaucratic hurdles and a skills shortage have reduced the ability of South African companies to hire additional workers.
“Whether or not that is achievable, I don’t know,” Nxesi said of his goal in an interview in Bloomberg’s office in Johannesburg. The government is working on policy amendments to prioritize South Africans’ access to jobs over foreign nationals with the same skills, he said.
The high unemployment rate has added to anti-immigrant sentiment among some South Africans who resent facing additional competition for jobs. That’s prompted the government to follow through on proposals to enforce employment quotas for foreign nationals.
