Tshwane leads Gauteng in job creation, despite national headwinds

The capital city is driving Gauteng’s job growth, accounting for 85% of the province’s net new jobs over the past year, according to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS).

According to Stats SA, Tshwane’s unemployment rate stood at 38.4% in the first quarter, slightly up from 37.8% in late 2024, but employment has increased year-on-year, with just under 1.3 million residents aged 15–64 now working.

As the metro continues to attract investment, there is potential for further reductions in unemployment rates in the coming quarters.

Mayoral spokesperson Samkelo Ngobozi said the metro’s success lies in strong growth in both the formal and informal economies.

“This starkly contrasts with the performance of the rest of the province, indicating that idiosyncratic factors are driving Tshwane’s overall performance. Regardless, we are performing very well despite persistent national challenges,” he said.

The QLFS shows that between the second quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of this year, Tshwane added 71 000 new jobs, with the informal sector leading the way by creating 41 000 jobs, while the formal economy contributed 32 000.

Agriculture and household economies, however, shed about 1 000 jobs each.

Ngobozi said preliminary provincial data suggested that most of the metro’s formal sector growth came from manufacturing, transportation, and trading sectors.

“They are strategic for the metro and encouraging to see a rebound.”

When compared to Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, Tshwane has become a clear outlier.

While Gauteng netted an average of 20 000 new jobs per quarter between 2023 and 2025, the metro only accounted for about 5 500 of these on average.

However, in the last year, the trend shifted dramatically.

“We accounted for about 85% of Gauteng’s job growth over the past year and 60% of the province’s job creation from quarter 1 to 2 of 2025,” Ngobozi explained.

He stated that most of the growth came from the private sector rather than public-sector hiring.

“The past year’s employment growth was not driven by public-sector hiring. The success of the private sector accounted for most of the jobs created in Tshwane,” Ngobozi said.

He added that policies such as the Tshwane Economic Revitalisation Strategy (TERS), bylaw enforcement, improved service delivery, and revenue collection have helped create an environment that encourages investment.

While acknowledging that the informal economy, which makes up about 15% of the metro’s output, has challenges in terms of long-term stability, Ngobozi said it remains transformative.

“The informal and township economy is one of the 10 key sectors in the TERS, and a city priority.”

Looking ahead, Tshwane has set ambitious targets under TERS.

The metro hopes to achieve an average economic growth of 3.9% by 2029, creating 80 000 new jobs and attracting R19–R26-billion in investments.

“With the necessary investments, we could see job creation exceed these estimates.”

“Over the long term, job creation and economic growth could become the norm,” Ngobozi said.

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