While Limpopo’s official unemployment rate for Quarter 4 of 2025 declined to 28.2%, below the national average of 31.4%, this so-called “improvement” is nothing more than a statistical illusion. It does not reflect real economic progress, but rather a growing number of residents who have simply given up looking for work.
The true picture is revealed by the expanded unemployment rate – which measures the percentage of people who want to work but have no job, and those who have stopped actively looking for work because they believe no jobs are available. In Limpopo this stands at a staggering 46.1%, significantly worse than the national expanded rate of 42.1%. Nearly half of all working-age residents in the province are effectively excluded from meaningful economic participation.
This reflects a labour market characterised by chronic joblessness, widespread discouragement, and an economy that simply cannot absorb its workforce. Limpopo also continues to record among the lowest labour force participation rates in South Africa, meaning vast numbers of people have lost hope of finding employment.
Economic activity in the province continues to be concentrated in mining and government employment, sectors that have limited capacity to absorb large numbers of job seekers. Employment in Limpopo’s agricultural sector — one of the largest and most important private-sector employers, particularly in the province’s extensive rural areas — remained relatively stable, providing a buffer against even higher levels of unemployment.
At the root of this crisis lies decades of failed ANC governance. Collapsing provincial and municipal infrastructure, failing municipal service delivery, and the poor performance of the Limpopo Department Economic Development and Tourism (LEDET), and its Local Economic Development Agency (LEDA) have steadily eroded the province’s capacity and failed to create jobs and attract investment.
Limpopo’s unemployment crisis is not accidental — it is the direct consequence of long-term governance failure under the ANC