South Africa’s latest unemployment figures show that the country is not making any meaningful progress in creating jobs.
According to Statistics SA, unemployment during the first quarter of this year remained stubbornly high at 42.2% (according to the expanded definition).
However, some people are finding work. In the first three months of this year just more than 250 000 people found jobs. Almost half of the jobs created were in the Western Cape. This province also had the lowest rate of unemployment at just more than 25%.
South Africa’s employment equity laws, however, made it increasingly difficult for people from minority communities to be hired. And now, according to some opposition parties, changes to the law will make it next to impossible.
The Employment Equity Amendment Act was signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa and will come into effect on September 1.
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