The Stats SA Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the period 1 April 2021 to 30 June released yesterday, reveals that one out of every two people in the Limpopo labour force is now unemployed.
It is of concern that, despite the 9 000 jobs gained during the period under review, Limpopo’s official year-on-year unemployment rate increased by 8.5 percentage points from 21.9% to 30.4%
At 49.9%, Limpopo now has the third highest expanded unemployment rate after the Eastern Cape (53%) and the Northern cape (50.3%).
These statistics are the reality experienced by the people of Limpopo, who have been suffering untold hardships for years which are now exacerbated by the Covid pandemic.
Limpopo experienced a quarter-on-quarter growth of 17 000 jobs in agriculture, 72 000 jobs in construction, 25 000 jobs in mining and 30 000 jobs in trade.
Encouragingly, private households, which currently employ 748 000 women nationally, experienced a 24 000 increase in jobs.
However, the huge losses experienced in other sectors for the same period negated the growth stated above.
The finance sector lost 32 000 jobs, the transport sector lost 22 000 jobs and community and social services lost 42 000 jobs.
The DA believes that the re-introduction of the Special Covid Social Relief Distress Grant will assist the 897 000 individuals in Limpopo involved in non-market activities, such as subsistence farming, hunting & fishing and producing goods for the household, to make ends meet.
The DA calls on Premier Chupu Mathabatha to acknowledge that extraordinary times require extraordinary measures.
The Premier’s government must not only adapt policies and increase assistance to our people to stave off further job losses, but also increase investment opportunities through infrastructure development and good governance.