Best and worst paying cities in South Africa

Despite a weak macro economic outlook, a new report shows that job availability in South Africa is on the rise.

Research conducted by job search site Adzuna, shows that job seekers are unsurprisingly more likely to find work in the major metros of Johannesburg, Cape Town Metro and Tshwane.

The research found that Chatsworth is officially the hardest place in the country to find a job, with the fewest available vacancies – while Zululand, also in KwaZulu Natal, currently offers the lowest average advertised salaries.

Adzuna ranked the top 50 cities in South Africa by comparing the job vacancies in its search index of over 110,000 live jobs and advertised salaries in each city in April 2016.

It also analysed the distribution of job titles and categories to determine which jobs are in hottest demand in each city or province.

Best cities to find a job

#	City	Advertised Vacancies (April 2016)
1	Johannesburg (GP)	25 571
2	Cape Town (WC)	13 315
3	Tshwane (GP)	6 191
4	eThwekwini (KZN)	4 692
5	Ekurhuleni(GP)	3 402

Best paying cities in South Africa

#	City	Average Advertised Salary (April 2016)
1	Chris Hani (EC)	R527 717
2	Central Region (NW)	R518 166
3	Nkangala (MP)	R456 827
4	Vhembe (LP)	R452 846
5	Johannesburg (GP)	R409 292

It found that despite the downturn in commodities, salaries in the mining areas in the northern parts of South Africa, proportionate to the amount of jobs available, are much higher than general.

The North-West Province, for example, has the highest salary average, pushed up by mining salaries on a lower base than the more populated areas.

Best paying provinces in South Africa

#	Province	Average Advertised Salary (April 2016)
1	North West	R453 050
2	Northern Cape	R401 747
3	Limpopo	R392 419
4	Gauteng	R385 477
5	Mpumalanga	R381 850
	*Average for South Africa*	*R358 140*
6	Western Cape	R336 248
7	Eastern Cape	R299 154
8	KwaZulu Natal	R284 211
9	Free State	R279 493

Bad job prospects – and bad pay

Chatsworth and Kuruman (Ga-Segonyana district) are the hardest areas in SA to find a job with just 11 vacancies currently being advertised, closely followed by Lichtenberg, Faerie Glen, and Meyerton.

The report noted that average salaries in a number of cities are rising, which may reflect a deeper need to attract rarer skills, as well as line up with the current inflation figures.

South Africans saw a 6% rise in salaries offered for the same positions over the first quarter of 2016, the report said.

Worst cities to find a job

#	City	Advertised Vacancies (April 2016)
1	Chatsworth	11
2	Kuruman	11
3	Ge-Segonyana	12
4	Lichtenburg	13
5	Faerie Glen	14

Worst paying cities in South Africa

#	City	Average Advertised Salary (April 2016)
1	Zululand	R82 950
2	Soweto	R91 846
3	Queensburgh	R98 475
4	Diep River	R99 428
5	Berea Road	R102 942

Best sectors

IT and Engineering are the top hiring sectors nationally with over 10,000 jobs advertised currently. The greatest growth in job stock can be seen in the technical industries, boasting over 40,000 job opportunities between them, the jobs reports said.

“South Africa is facing some tough economic times, due to a number of global pressures as well as local events” said Jesse Green, country manager for Adzuna in South Africa.

“This can be seen in the rise in salaries and the amount of positions, as companies vie for talent and attract skills with much needed higher wages. The data also reflects the Reserve Bank’s recent decisions to increase the interest rate.”