Thursday, 26 September 2024

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) notes the release of the Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) by Statistics South Africa (StatsSA). The purpose of the QES is to provide an update on the state of employment in the country, focusing on the number of people employed by sector, type of employment, basic salaries, and average monthly earnings.

The total number of employed people increased by 42,000, mainly due to a rise of 91,000 jobs in the community services sector, which includes both government and non-governmental services. However, the mining, manufacturing, construction, trade, transport, and business services sectors experienced a total decline of 50,000 jobs, while the electricity industry remained unchanged, continuing to employ 64,000 people. Overall, the total number of employed people has decreased year-on-year by 144,000, meaning between June 2023 and June 2024, 144,000 jobs were lost.

We are not surprised by these trends because South Africa’s economy is incapable of creating jobs in its current direction. This decline was expected, especially after the Quarterly Labour Force Survey in August 2024, which showed a significant rise in unemployment with 158,000 more unemployed people and 92,000 jobs lost quarter-to- quarter, mostly in the formal sector.

These figures are the consequence of decades of misguided austerity policies and extremely conservative monetary policies that protect bank profits by imposing high interest rates. This has stifled the economy, depriving it of the oxygen needed for growth. Instead of using the levers of the state, aggressively increasing public spending on infrastructure could absorb many unemployed youth into construction and support related sectors.

The EFF notes the continued shift towards parasitic casualisation of employment across all industries. Full-time employment has decreased by 39,000, while part-time employment has increased by 81,000. This trend shows that trade unions have lost their capacity to organise, leaving workers vulnerable and often employed without benefits, such as pensions.

The sharp increase in part-time government employees is also worrying. These exploitative short-term employment programmes are often used by municipalities to replace experienced full-time workers, such as artisans. Instead of filling vacant positions, municipalities are hiring people on a short-term basis, often without the necessary experience, and these workers are then exploited.
The QES report is yet another indication that the DA-led coalition with the ANC will fail to stabilise the economy and create jobs as long as they continue with their self-imposed austerity policies and the current approach of the South African Reserve Bank. Teachers are already losing their jobs, and provincial education departments are unable to fill vacancies caused by death, resignation, or retirement.

This is simply a continuation of the past 15 years of economic mismanagement, which will not end until we change macroeconomic policy. We must shift away from policies that cater to foreign investors gambling on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Instead, we must prioritise a state-led re-industrialisation of the economy, investing in productive sectors to benefit our people.
ISSUED BY THE ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Leigh-Ann Mathys (National Spokesperson) 082 304 7572

Thato Lebyane (Media Inquiries) 078 563 1581
[email protected]