Statistician-general Risenga Maluleke. File photo.(ALON SKUY)
Statistician-general Risenga Maluleke says the unemployment challenge in the country should not be watered down.
He said this after observing thousands of young people from across Limpopo’s Vhembe region queueing outside the Thohoyandou Stadium this week for the official opening of the SA National Defence Force’s 2027 Military Skills Development System.
Speaking at a media briefing on the fourth-quarter labour force survey, Maluleke said the footage of young people carrying documents and waiting in lines that curved around the stadium walls echoed what they have been doing at Stats SA.
“I’ve often wondered when I hear people saying we do not have a challenge of unemployment. Those young people that have been walking and queuing since Saturday and continue to stream towards Thohoyandou Stadium are just [the tip of] an iceberg of young people we have always reported about at Stats SA. To water down such developments makes us not appreciate the challenge of unemployment that our country is facing,” he said.
Maluleke revealed that the unemployment rate for the fourth quarter of 2025 stands at 31.4%. This represents 7.8-million unemployed people. However, employment increased by 44,000 to reach 17.1-million.
The country is making gradual recoveries in the job market, with employment increasing and unemployment declining
— Risenga Maluleke, statistician-general
“Looking at the time series, unemployment peaked at 33.2% in the second quarter of 2025. It declined to 31.9% in the third quarter and now sits at 31.4% in the fourth quarter. This shows that the country is making gradual recoveries in the job market, with employment increasing and unemployment declining.
“The combined rate of unemployment and the potential labour force, what was previously referred to as the expanded unemployment rate, is also declining, even after including those such as students who are seeking work but are not immediately available.”
Maluleke said in 2025 job losses occurred only in the first quarter, when 291,000 jobs were lost. Thereafter, gains resumed, with 44,000 jobs added in the current quarter.
Youth unemployment remains the highest concern, he said, with the labour force participation rate favouring older people more than younger people
“Young people aged 15 to 34 were vulnerable to labour markets, compared to the older age group … So since we know that unemployment affects young people the most, when we start seeing the difference between these two lines [ages 15-24 and 15-34] coming lower and lower, we should know we are turning the corner as regards issues of unemployment … So we have more young people not in employment, education or training.”
Across provinces, the Eastern Cape has the highest official unemployment rate at 42.5%, followed by the Free State (37.2%) and the North West (35.1%).
Provinces below the national average include Limpopo at 28.2%, Mpumalanga (27.1%), and the Western Cape (18.1%).