The MEC for Finance, Economic Development, and Tourism, Abraham Vosloo, tells OFM News one way of achieving this is through promoting the tourism industry. Vosloo admits unemployment rates in the province are staggeringly high, taking into account how small the population is compared to other provinces. He, however, says they are working on measures to address the scourge of unemployment with a special focus on the youth and women. According to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), approximately 3.4 million out of 10.2 million young people, aged 15-24, are not in employment, nor in education or any form of training.

The report, which indicates figures for the second quarter of the year, paints a bleak picture of job losses in the entire country with unemployment having increased by 1,8 percentage points to 34.4%.

Whilst Vosloo admits that the tourism industry has been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, he maintains domestic travel will help alleviate poverty and address some questions relating to high unemployment in the province.

His statement comes as South Africa observes the month of September as one dedicated to promoting tourism.

OFM News