SA’S rising unemployment a crisis that needs urgent attention

SOUTH Africa is facing a serious crisis given the magnitude of rising unemployment which is affecting mostly black people and youth in particular.

- LIZO KALIPA

This crisis is worsened by the huge retrenchments currently happening in the country, which have a devastating impact on the livelihood of South African black communities and their employability, as new data, released by Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey, reveals a staggering loss of 291 000 jobs in the first quarter of 2025. It also indicates that South Africa's official unemployment rate rose to 33.2% in the second quarter of 2025.