The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Limpopo notes the slight improvement in employment and the drop in the unemployment rate as reported in Stats SA’s Quarter 3 Labour Force Survey (QLFS) 2025, released today.
However, behind these numbers lies a sad and sobering reality — there are fewer people employed in Limpopo today than a year ago. For thousands of families, there is no recovery to celebrate. The reality remains one of joblessness, empty tables, unpaid bills, and young people without hope.
The slight improvement in employment statistics is fragile and built on weak foundations. It is driven largely by temporary or low-productivity jobs that do little to change people’s lives or restore dignity.
Limpopo will not break free from its unemployment crisis without sustained, inclusive growth in sectors that can deliver real, long-term work — such as mining and tourism, which should be engines of opportunity but continue to underperform:
- Mining: Despite Limpopo’s rich endowment of platinum, chrome, coal, and phosphate, there has been no substantive recovery. The province continues to fail to translate its mineral wealth into jobs, beneficiation, or industrial growth.
- Tourism, trade, and hospitality: These sectors contributed most to Limpopo’s quarterly employment rise, but the growth is largely seasonal and not backed by formal-sector expansion or capital investment.
There is no room for complacency. Limpopo’s people deserve better than short-lived job spikes. If we are to see meaningful, sustained employment growth, we must first get the fundamentals right — and that starts with honest, capable, and caring governance.
Sustainable job creation cannot occur where governance is weak, oversight is compromised, and public resources are stolen or wasted.
For too long, the people of Limpopo have paid the price for cadre deployment, maladministration, and corruption. Until we build a professional, accountable, and service-driven provincial administration, the province will remain trapped in a cycle of broken promises and missed potential, while municipalities continue to collapse under weak leadership and poor oversight.