South Africa's official unemployment rate stands at 31.9%, representing approximately 8 million people without work.
South Africa’s unemployment crisis has been laid bare before parliament’s portfolio committee on employment and labour, with illegal immigration emerging as a contributing factor to joblessness among citizens, according to presentations made before the committee on Wednesday.
The committee heard that foreign-born nationals enjoy significantly higher employment absorption rates than South African-born citizens, with the gap raising concerns about displacement in certain economic sectors.
The parliament briefing follows Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) on Tuesday, reporting an unemployment rate decline to 31.9%, having dropped by 1.3 percentage points in the third quarter of the year.
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Stark employment disparities revealed
Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke presented sobering figures showing that in 2022, the employment absorption rate for people not born in South Africa stood at 64%, compared to just 32% for those born within the country’s borders.
“Foreign-born nationals enjoy a lot more opportunities to be employed in South Africa than the locally born, and this is largely because when they join any employment sector, they don’t join organised labour and the like, and they can be paid any amount, even sometimes far beyond or lower than the minimum wage,” Maluleke told the committee.
He emphasised that while Stats SA’s mandate is to count everyone within South Africa’s borders for planning purposes, addressing the policy implications falls beyond their scope.
With that reasoning, he said they don’t report illegal immigrants to the police when they do their job.
“This is a matter that is beyond us as Stats SA. We can only measure and indicate what we are seeing in society,” he said.
The unemployment rate of foreign-born people was 18%, significantly lower than the 31% rate for South African-born individuals at the time of measurement.
Foreign national dominance in informal sector
African Transformation Movement (ATM) MP, Vuyo Zungula, raised concerns about foreign nationals’ dominance in the informal sector, citing a study from North West province that found that more than 83% of informal sector businesses in that region were in the hands of foreign nationals.
“The dominance of foreign nationals in the informal sector does contribute to the increase in unemployment,” Zungula argued, warning that such concentration creates displacement of local workers.
Deputy Minister for Employment and Labour Judith Nemadzinga-Tshabalala acknowledged these concerns and called for stronger oversight.
Nemadzinga-Tshabalala identified several vulnerable sectors requiring attention, including hospitality, farming, construction, and domestic work, where illegal immigrants were hired in low-skilled jobs instead of South Africans.
“Go to any China mall in this country and do an oversight, you’ll see how many jobs are there and jobs such as cashiers and all of that, but check who’s employed in those jobs and whether you find many South Africans.
“I can assure you we can find many jobs where South Africans can be able to be employed and be absorbed.”
She suggested coordination with the Department of Home Affairs and other provincial governments on permit issues.
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National unemployment figures
According to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the third quarter of 2025, South Africa’s official unemployment rate stands at 31.9%, representing approximately 8 million people without work.
The figures showed some improvement, with employment rising to 17.1 million people, an increase of 248 000 from the previous quarter.
The number of unemployed persons actively seeking work decreased by 360 000 to 8 million.
However, when including discouraged work seekers and potential labour force participants, the combined rate of unemployment reaches 42.4%, affecting 12.5 million people. The composite measure of labour underutilisation sits even higher at 44.9%.
Youth bear the heaviest burden
Young people aged 15 to 34 years face particularly dire prospects, with their unemployment rate at 43.7%— well above the national average. For the youngest cohort aged 15 to 24 years, unemployment reaches a staggering 58.5%.
“We have 10.3 million young people aged 15 to 24 years. Of those, 3.5 million are not in employment, education or training,” Maluleke reported, noting this produces a NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) rate of 33.9% for this age group.
The youth unemployment crisis is compounded by educational challenges.
Stats SA data shows that almost three in five youth aged 15 to 24 years — approximately 58% — were not in education or training facilities as of 2024.
Racial and educational disparities persist
The unemployment figures reveal stark racial disparities that mirror South Africa’s historical inequalities.
Maluleke revealed that white South Africans enjoy the lowest unemployment rate at 8.1%, followed by Indian/Asian South Africans at 13.9% and coloured South Africans at 22.1%.
Meanwhile, black Africans face the highest unemployment at 35.8%, consistently above the national average.
Education remains a critical factor in employment prospects. Graduates have an unemployment rate of just 10.4%, while those with matric or less face rates of 34% and 38% respectively.
“It’s no longer fashionable to have matric [only],” Maluleke noted, emphasising that “people with education can enjoy employment,” though he acknowledged that the throughput to tertiary education remains very low.
Government intervention programs
Nemadzinga-Tshabalala outlined various government initiatives aimed at addressing unemployment, including the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative, labour activation programs, and the Project 20 000 initiative.
She said the Public Employment Services system has registered 1.3 million work seekers, of whom 61% are youth aged 15 to 35 years and 56% are women.
In the second quarter of 2025, the system facilitated the placement of 98 869 work seekers into employment through labour activation programmes.
However, Nemadzinga-Tshabalala acknowledged significant challenges, including underfunding, high staff-to-client ratios, and ICT systems that are “not really fully fit for purpose at this point”.
The department has committed to creating 1 million work opportunities by 2029 and is rolling out a subsidy scheme for persons with disabilities, launching in December 2025.
National labour migration policy pending
The committee heard that a National Labour Migration Policy, aimed at managing cross-border labour mobility more effectively, has been finalised by state law advisors and the Bills committee.
“We are hoping and looking forward to seeing a lot of engagement during your hearings as you close some of the gaps that we may have overlooked in making sure that that bill becomes law,” Deputy Director-General (DDG) Sam Morotoba told the committee.
He said the policy development is being coordinated with the Department of Home Affairs, which is finalising a white paper on immigration, citizenship and refugees.
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