In an interview with OFM News' Cathy Dlodlo, he confirms the province used to contribute 15% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but that it now only makes a 4.8% contribution.

Bulwane says, compared to other sectors and how they have been affected by the pandemic, agriculture is still the safest sector to invest more money into.

Bulwane says although farmers were allowed to operate during the hard lockdown, several support services and businesses were locked down, and that had a negative impact on the sector.

Bulwane's statement comes just weeks after Statistics South Africa released unemployment rates and indicated how the South African economy shed 2, 2 million jobs in the second quarter of the year as well as how employment losses were observed across all industries.

The Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) report presented by Statistician Risenga Maluleke shows that the number of unemployed South Africans has declined to 23.3%, whilst the expanded unemployment rate has almost doubled.

Risenga outlined that the highest official and expanded unemployment rates were recorded in the Eastern Cape, followed by Gauteng, then the Free State.

Bulwane believes the sector can still produce favourable results, should they invest more money in it.

OFM News