KwaZulu-Natal’s MEC for finance Nomusa Dube-Ncube says that the coronavirus pandemic and economic issues have had a dramatic impact on employment in the province.<\/p>\n
Tabling the second annual adjustments budget in the provincial legislature on Tuesday (24 November), Dube-Ncube said that Q2 2020 was particularly damaging for the province at the height of the country’s lockdown.<\/p>\n
She said that the provincial GDP growth rate fell by a ‘devastating’ 51.6% during this period.<\/p>\n
“Our projections indicate that economic growth in the province will contract by at least 9.1% this year, before moderating to 1.5% next year,” she said.<\/p>\n
“The largest negative contributors to the provincial economic growth in the second quarter of 2020 were mining and quarrying, which contracted by 75.5%; constructions by 75.3%; manufacturing by 75.1% and wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants by 68.9%.”<\/p>\n
Dube-Ncube added that the rapid increase in liquidations has led to a distressing rise in the expanded unemployment rate, which is currently estimated at 47.5% in KwaZulu-Natal compared to 43.1% nationally.<\/p>\n
“This implies that five out of ten people in KwaZulu-Natal are unemployed,” she said.<\/p>\n
National data from Statistics South Africa shows that the total number of forced and voluntary liquidations increased by 54% in September as compared to the same month last year.<\/p>\n
Results of the third Quarter Labour Force Survey (QLFS) published by Stats SA has put South Africa\u2019s unemployment rate at 30.8% \u2013 43.1% on the expanded definition, which includes discouraged work seekers who have given up looking for jobs.<\/p>\n
Nedbank<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0forecasts that around 500,000 jobs will be lost in South Africa this year, with the country\u2019s labour market only set to reach the pre-crisis peak in the second half of 2023.<\/p>\n