The latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey released by Statistics South Africa confirms what working-class communities across our country already know: South Africa’s unemployment crisis is deepening. The official unemployment rate rose by 0.9 of a percentage point to 33.6% in the second quarter of 2026. Of a working-age population of 42.3 million people, only 16.7 million were employed. A further 8.5 million were unemployed under the narrow definition, while millions more remain discouraged or underemployed.
These figures are not mere statistics. They represent 8.5 million women and men who want to work but cannot find jobs, and millions more who have given up looking because the economy has closed its doors to them. Among the 4.6 million people in the potential labour force, 3.7 million are discouraged job-seekers. Time-related underemployment affects another 740 000 workers. This is the lived reality of our members, their families, and the communities in which we organise.
NATUSA condemns this continued rise in unemployment in the strongest possible terms. It is the direct result of years of policy failure, weak implementation, and a failure of political will to place job creation at the centre of economic planning. Successive governments have spoken about employment while allowing structural barriers to persist: unreliable electricity, collapsing logistics, a skills system that does not match the needs of the economy, and an education system that continues to fail the majority of young people. Investment remains too low, growth remains too weak, and the formal economy continues to shed or fail to create the volume of decent jobs required.
We reject any suggestion that this crisis is inevitable or solely the product of global conditions. Other countries facing similar external pressures have achieved better employment outcomes through decisive industrial policy, infrastructure investment, and active labour market measures. In South Africa, too many resources have been wasted through corruption, inefficiency, and policy inconsistency. The result is an economy that cannot absorb its own labour force, leaving millions of our people — particularly the youth — excluded from meaningful economic participation.
The human cost is severe. High unemployment fuels poverty, inequality, social frustration, and the growth of precarious and informal work. It weakens the bargaining power of those who are employed and places enormous pressure on the social wage. For farmworkers, drivers, informal traders, and other vulnerable workers whom NATUSA represents, the absence of formal opportunities means continued exposure to low wages, insecure conditions, and limited protections.
Government cannot continue with business as usual. NATUSA calls for:
- An urgent, coordinated national employment strategy with clear targets, timelines, and accountability mechanisms.
- Accelerated investment in reliable energy, transport, and digital infrastructure to unlock private and public job creation.
- A serious overhaul of the skills and education system so that young people leave school and training institutions with capabilities that employers actually need.
- Stronger industrial policy that supports labour-intensive sectors and local manufacturing rather than relying on consumption and imports.
- Decisive action against corruption and waste so that public resources reach the programmes and communities that need them most.
- Expanded support for public employment programmes that create real pathways into sustainable work, not temporary relief alone.
Workers and the unemployed did not create this crisis. They are its primary victims. NATUSA will continue to organise, mobilise, and demand accountability from those in power. We stand ready to engage constructively with government, business, and other social partners — but only on the basis of concrete commitments to reverse the unemployment trend and place decent work at the heart of South Africa’s future.
The time for excuses is over. The 33.6% unemployment rate is a national emergency. Government must treat it as such.
Issued by NATUSA
National Allied Trade Union of South Africa
