The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) expresses deep concern over the alarming rise in unemployment revealed in the first quarter 2025 Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS). These figures underscore the deepening crisis confronting the working class and the urgent need for a radical shift in the country’s macroeconomic trajectory.
According to the QLFS, the number of employed people declined by 291,000 in the first quarter of 2025 , dropping the total number of employed people down from 17.1 million to 16.1 million. The number of officially unemployed individuals rose by 237,000, reaching 8.2 million, while the labour force shrank by 54,000 — a 0.2% decrease.
The number of discouraged work-seekers rose slightly by 7,000 (0.2%), while those who became economically inactive for other reasons (excluding discouragement) surged by 177,000 (1.4%), bringing the total number of economically inactive people to 16.7 million — an increase of 184,000 over the quarter.
Youth unemployment remains a national catastrophe. Young people aged 15–34 are still the most vulnerable group in the labour market. Unemployment among this group increased by 151,000 to 4.8 million, while the number of employed youth fell by 153,000 to 5.7 million. As a result, the youth unemployment rate jumped from 44.6% in Q4 2024 to 46.1% in Q1 2025.
The overall official unemployment rate increased by 1.0 percentage point, while the expanded unemployment rate rose by 1.2 percentage points, from 41.9% in Q4 2024 to 43.1% in Q1 2025.
While employment gains were recorded in Transport, Finance, and Utilities, job losses were registered in Trade, Construction, Private Households, Mining, and Community and Social Services.
These figures are a damning indictment of South Africa’s failed capitalist economic system — a system incapable of delivering decent work, reducing inequality, or ending poverty. They also expose the complete failure of government’s macroeconomic policies, which continue to serve the interests of big business and the wealthy elite, while abandoning the working class and the poor.
The government’s dogged commitment to fiscal austerity and neoliberal orthodoxy has led to the disinvestment in vital sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, and public services, resulting in job losses, factory closures, and economic stagnation.
The persistently high unemployment rate is a consequence of deindustrialisation, driven by an overreliance on the capitalist class to lead development. This approach, zealously pursued since the 1996 GEAR strategy, has consistently failed and entrenched a cycle of joblessness, inequality, and poverty.
The QLFS also highlights the disproportionate impact of unemployment on youth, women, and rural communities — groups that are already economically marginalized and structurally excluded from meaningful opportunity.
Yet the government persists with the same failed policies. Despite capital’s consistent refusal to invest in the productive economy, the state continues to appease big business. The second phase of Operation Vulindlela, launched by President Ramaphosa on 7 May 2025, is the latest neoliberal scheme to attract private investment — premised on de-risking and privatisingstrategic sectors. As with GEAR, AsgiSA, and other failed frameworks, Operation Vulindlela will not deliver the promised jobs or industrialisation.
SAFTU’s Alternative Policy Proposals
To reverse this trajectory, SAFTU demands a bold, state-led developmental agenda, centered on public investment and democratic ownership:
- Launch a R1 trillion public investment drive in infrastructure, housing, public transport, energy, and education.
- Bring strategic minerals under public ownership with democratic oversight to fund industrialisation.
- Implement a public-led just transition to renewable energy with no job losses.
- Recapitalise Eskom and Transnet under transparent, accountable public ownership.
- End the public sector wage and hiring freeze — fill critical vacancies in health, education, and policing.
- Expand public procurement and industrial policy to support local manufacturing and decent work.
- Shift the tax burden from the poor to the rich — introduce wealth taxes, reform capital gains tax, and enforce tax justice.
South Africa needs an urgent break from austerity and elite appeasement. It is time for a developmental state that places the needs of the working class before profits — rebuilding the economy through public investment, reindustrialisation, and the provision of quality public goods.
A Statement was issued on behalf of SAFTU by General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.
For more details, contact the National Spokesperson at:
Newton Masuku
066 168 2157
Newtonm@saftu.org.za
