Joblessness in South Africa isn’t some freak accident thrust upon our country by natural disaster or even historical legacy. Our rising unemployment rate is the very expected outcome of policies that are designed to hurt businesses and withhold opportunities from the jobless.
As of the latest unemployment figures from StatsSA, 33.6% of South Africans are unemployed as of Q2:2026. This is up from 33.6% in the previous quarter, representing 345,000 additional unemployed South Africans, bringing the total to 8.5 million. This was caused by a combination of jobs being destroyed, but mainly by more people seeking jobs and not being able to find any.
Of course, young people are the hardest hit. 62.8% of people between the ages of 15 and 24 are unemployed.
All these stats rise when you expand the definition of unemployment to not just be job seekers failing to find a job but also include people who have given up and just accepted that they will never find a job. The estimated unemployment rate with the broader measurement is 43.8%.
If you further expand to workers who are employed but need or want more hours to earn a sufficient income, the rate rises to 46.3%.
Unemployment has far-reaching consequences for society and is arguably South Africa’s foundational issue.
No income means poverty, starvation, debt, and no future for many South African families. Many turn to crime out of desperation or are unable to afford to fight crime themselves through a well-funded community police.
A lack of independent income saps the dignity from many people, leading to mental health issues, anger, and resentment. Unemployment saps the soul out of a nation’s people.
Unemployed people must rely on welfare and badly run public services to survive, adding to the drain on a fiscus that is running out of taxpayers to fund it.
Unemployment is a vicious cycle that exacerbates all the major issues in this country. Solving it should be the number one priority for any government in power or political party seeking election.
Yet, the present Government of National Unity (GNU) and ruling African National Congress (ANC) have not only failed to address unemployment; they continue to back the very policies causing the destruction of jobs.
Since the establishment of the GNU, the Democratic Alliance (DA) as the largest junior partner has failed to stand up to the ANC and demand the necessary reforms to fix this country. Rather, the DA has conceded and compromised at almost every turn. It is as if the DA read that “politics is the art of compromise” and decided to rush straight to giving up.
The DA manifesto is not horrible. On paper, the party seems to understand what the country needs.
Deregulation. Cutting red tape. Making it easier and clearer to hire and fire. Weakening dominant trade unions and preventing collective bargaining from destroying entire industries.
Dozens of international studies and cases have proven that less rigid labour markets that allow for businesses to set their own agreements with their own employees are necessary for fighting unemployment. South Africa lags the rest of the OECD and G20 countries due to our strict labour laws that make employment a burden.
But the ANC is functionally still the ruling party, as the GNU refuses to set ultimatums to pass the reforms and deregulation needed to fix this country.
Unfortunately, the ANC is not truly concerned with unemployment. An unemployed populace is easier to control. The desperate and hungry don’t become politically literate. They accept welfare grants with understandable relief and will listen to propaganda that the ANC is the giver of gifts and that any other party would strip them of this life line.
Income earners are harder to control. They can pay for education. They can leave the country. They start becoming entitled due to their paying tax. The ANC doesn’t want to rule a wealthy democracy. It wants to rule a destitute fiefdom.
The trade unions, COSATU notable as an ally of the ANC, also have a vested interest in maintaining unemployment. Their bargaining power stems from a limited supply of workers. They can make demands and force employers into accepting disastrously high wage increases because labour laws and union intervention make it harder for employers to find alternative workers.
Trade unions don’t want extra competition for their members. So, they will lobby to restrict new workers from entering the workplace, and lowering the cost of labour.
Most pertinently, both the ANC, the trade unions and much of South Africa’s political class are devout socialists. They are deluded by their ideology and do not care for reality. Unemployment numbers don’t matter. Only transformation. Poverty doesn’t matter. Only the revolution.
We cannot keep looking for solutions to joblessness through the ANC in its present form. The only thing that can save this country is a true free market that allows employers and employees to be independent adults, entering into contracts on their own terms based on their own needs – without an intrusive, selfish and stupid government getting in the way.
Nicholas Woode-Smith is the Managing Editor of the Rational Standard and a senior associate of the Free Market Foundation. He writes in his personal capacity.