PRESS RELEASE: RP Concerned over Increasing Unemployment in WC

RP Concerned Over Increasing Unemployment in WC

The Referendum Party (RP) is concerned that over the last twelve months unemployment in the Western Cape has increased at a significantly greater rate than in the rest of South Africa. The Unemployment Rate (UR) has increased from 20.9% to 22.2% whilst the Expanded Rate (EUR) has increased from 25.3% to 27.3%.

Referendum Party leader, Phil Craig, says, “The Western Cape people are paying the price for the Western Cape Government not being able to control its own economic policy. Since 2008, South Africa’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ranking has fallen from 32 to 84 and national government policy is actively preventing job creation. These are not the policies that the Western Cape people have voted for.”

In July, the RP set out what it believed should be minimum targets for the GNU which, having consulted leading economists, included reducing the national unemployment rate from 32.9% to below 30.0% by the end of 2025. If the GNU cannot as a bare minimum deliver economic growth and reduce unemployment, then it is not fit for purpose.

National Unemployment for Q2 is up at 33.5% although these figures pre-date the GNU. The RP will be watching the Q3 number very carefully as this will be the first indication of whether the GNU can move the needle in the right direction on unemployment.

The RP advocates for the scrapping of all race-based policies and incentivising all business owners to grow the economy and create jobs. Nothing will facilitate real transformation of South Africa’s economy better than sustained economic growth.

DATE: 13 Aug 2024

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