Note to Broadcasters: Find linked soundbites in English and Afrikaans by Leon Basson MP.
The shocking North West unemployment rate of 52.2% confirms that the ANC-led government wants every citizen in this province to lose their job.
North West retains its spot as the province with the highest unemployment rate in South Africa as per the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the Fourth Quarter 2023 released by StatsSA today.
There are more people unemployed in North West today than in 2008. In 2008, the unemployment rate was 22%, meaning that out of a working-age population of 1,1 million adults, 911 000 persons had a job, while 257 000 were unemployed.
Today, with an unemployment rate of 52.2% as per the expanded definition, the real picture of the jobs crisis, only 912 000 North West residents have a job while 996 000 people are unemployed out of a working-age population of 1,9 million.
The ANC-led government’s job killing failures over the last three decades mean that there are 739 000 more persons today who simply cannot find a job than in 2008. Tens of thousands of families are struggling to put food on the table because breadwinners are losing their jobs at a rapid rate, entrenching poverty and desperation in a province that holds immense wealth and talent.
While the ANC talks about the Tintswalos of democracy and the success of its programmes, there are hundreds of thousands of Tintswalos in North West who cannot find a job, and the sad reality is that for as long as the ANC remains in government, they never will.
While the ANC is suffocating the provincial economy and killing jobs, the DA government in the Western Cape oversaw the creation of 23 000 new jobs over the last quarter alone while North West lost 30 000 jobs.
The DA governed Western Cape has the lowest unemployment rate in South Africa because we govern well, maintain infrastructure and we do not entertain corruption. Our government actively seeks investment, and we assist all Western Cape municipalities to deliver services that support economic growth and development.
In North West the lived reality of residents is that in every town, in every municipality, the ANC is incapable and unwilling to govern well, to deliver services and to attract investment towards job creation.
Residents should vote DA in this year’s election so that we can rescue this beautiful province from this jobs crisis. Through our good governance, we can put a job in every home and half the unemployment rate over 5 years.