This is according to economists following the release of Statistics South Africa’s second quarterly labour force survey.

The survey, released yesterday, indicated that the country’s unemployment rate increased to 29% in the second quarter of 2019. This is a 1.4% increase from 27.6% in the first quarter of 2019, and the worst rate since 2008.

Unfortunately, according to economist Dawie Roodt, one solution to the massive financial crisis at Eskom will worsen these unemployment figures.

Roodt stresses that unemployment itself is not our biggest problem. He says without economic growth we will not have the good economic income or job opportunities we want to create.

This comes after Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni, last week tabled a special Appropriation Bill in the National Assembly, allocating an additional lifeline of R59 billion to Eskom over two years.

The survey by Stats SA also indicated that job losses were mainly recorded in the finance, mining, and transport sectors.

The number of unemployed people in the country increased from 4.3 million to 6.7 million over a ten-year period.

OFM News