Informal sector 'vital in stats'

UNEMPLOYMENT: QUESTION IS WHETHER CALCULATIONS ARE CORRECT, SAYS BANK BOSS

- Ina Opperman

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau agrees with Capitec Bank CEO Gerrie Fourie that unemployment statistics should include work in the informal sector. But not everybody has the same view.

Fourie said last week that Statistics SA should rethink how it measures unemployment, arguing that when the vast informal sector is considered, the unemployment rate of 32.9% could be closer to 10%.

"We talk about an unemployment rate of 32% but Statistics SA does not count self-employed people. I think that is an area we must correct," Fourie said.

"The unemployment rate is probably actually 10%. Just go look at the number of people in the township informal market who sell all sorts of stuff and have a turnover of R1 000 per day."

Last week in parliament, DA MP Tobias Chance asked Tau for his comments as he was not sure whether Fourie's claim was accurate. He also wanted to know whether it was true that not enough attention was paid to supporting the informal economy.

Chance emphasised that the informal sector in South Africa supported fewer people in work compared with other similar countries, particularly in Africa.