Key Points:

  • Unemployment in South Africa is very high, and the formal sector is not growing adequately to alleviate it.
  • According to research, South Africa’s expanded unemployment rate was 39% in 1996
  • .The cost of unemployment to individuals is high. They suffer not only from the lack of an adequate income, but are also marginalised by society.
  • High unemployment in a middle-income country like South Africa goes hand in hand with a highly unequal distribution of income
  • South Africa cannot separate sustainable employment creation from long-run social and economic development. This challenge cannot be met by government alone – it must become an integral part of the plans and projects of all economics actors.

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