ActionSA is deeply concerned by the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey released by Statistics South Africa, which shows that 361,000 fewer South Africans were employed at the end of the first half of 2026 than at the start of the year.
This follows a loss of 345,000 employed persons in the first quarter and a further decline of 16,000 in the second quarter. The number of unemployed South Africans now stands at a staggering 8.5 million.
The official unemployment rate has consequently risen from 32.7% to 33.6%, meaning that more than one in every three people in South Africa’s labour force cannot find work. Even more concerning, the expanded rate of unemployment, which includes discouraged work-seekers, has increased to 43.8%, up from 43.0% a year ago. More than 12 million South Africans are now either unemployed or so discouraged that they have stopped looking for work.
ActionSA is proud that the City of Tshwane, under the leadership of ActionSA’s Dr Nasiphi Moya, created 22, 000 jobs, while DA-run Cape Town lost 19,000 jobs and ANC-led Johannesburg lost 28 000. This proves that ActionSA is demonstrating how good governance translates into job creation.
Fewer than four in every ten working-age South Africans are employed, with the employment-to-working-age-population ratio falling to just 39.6%.
Of particular concern is the continued deterioration of South Africa’s manufacturing base. The manufacturing sector has shed 100,000 jobs over the past year, a decline of 6%.
This should be regarded as a national emergency.
Manufacturing provides productive, relatively higher-value employment and supports extensive supply chains of smaller businesses and workers. Yet while South Africa’s legitimate productive economy continues to shed jobs, the Government of National Unity has failed to address the conditions driving businesses out of the market and investment away from productive activity.
The growth of illicit trade is a particularly stark example. Legitimate businesses are expected to comply with an increasingly complex regulatory and tax environment while criminal networks continue to exploit weak enforcement. The ongoing Madlanga Commission is
exposing the extent to which corruption and criminality have penetrated parts of the state, while law-abiding businesses and their employees pay the price.
While millions of South Africans are unable to find work, the GNU remains consumed by internal battles, political horse-trading and disagreements between its constituent parties. Ministers continue to enjoy and abuse the privileges of office while South Africans are expected to endure an unemployment crisis that has persisted for years.
ActionSA has consistently argued that economic growth and employment must be the central test of the GNU’s performance. ActionSA therefore renews its call for President Cyril Ramaphosa to replace the Ministers responsible for employment, economic growth, trade, industry and small business development.
We made this call following the previous employment figures, and the latest data demonstrates that the government has failed to change course. It cannot be acceptable for Ministers to remain in office indefinitely while the number of South Africans without work continues to rise and the country’s manufacturing base continues to contract.
For the more than 12 million South Africans who are unemployed or have become discouraged from looking for work, government failure is not abstract. It determines whether they have a livelihood, whether they can support their families and whether they have any hope of building a better future.
South Africans need a government focused relentlessly on creating jobs, supporting legitimate businesses, attracting investment and restoring the productive capacity of the economy. President Ramaphosa must act. South Africa cannot afford another six months of a government that watches employment disappear while it fights amongst itself.
ActionSA Identity: Rejects racial mobilization, focusing on “meritocracy.”
Blizzard Vixen
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Zero Charisma
The difference between the South African football team and a tea bag is that the tea bag stays in the cup