The Eastern Cape has recorded the highest unemployment rate of 42.5%, with almost 80,000 jobs lost in the last three months, surpassing the national 31.4% unemployment rate, according to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) of quarter 4 of 2025.
The QLFS was released by Statistician-General, Risenga Maluleke, on February 17. He said an increase in employment and a decrease in unemployment resulted in a decrease of 0.5 percentage points in the unemployment rate to 31.4% in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The increases in the combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force were recorded in the Eastern Cape at 3.8 percentage points.
The province recorded an absorption rate of 29.7% compared to the 56.3% in the Western Cape.
“The largest employment losses were recorded in Gauteng at 54,000, KwaZulu-Natal with 41,000 and the Eastern Cape at 32,000 between the third and fourth quarters of 2025.
“Compared with quarter four of 2024, decreases in employment were recorded in KwaZulu-Natal at 176,000, followed by the Eastern Cape with 79,000 and Northern Cape with 18,000,” Maluleke said.
Increases in quarterly unemployment rate, he said, were recorded in the Eastern Cape at 1.3 percentage points, the Free State 1 percentage point and KwaZulu-Natal 0.6 of a percentage point.
“Year-on-year increases in the unemployment rate were recorded in the Eastern Cape at 5.9 percentage points and KwaZulu-Natal 3.7 percentage points. The combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force increases was recorded in the Free State at 1.4 percentage points, the Eastern Cape at 1.2 percentage points, Limpopo at 1 percentage point and KwaZulu-Natal at 0.5 of a percentage point.”
Maluleke said the increases in the combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force were recorded in the Eastern Cape at 3.8 percentage points. The province was one of only two provinces where unemployment increased year on year.
DA opposition leader in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature, Vicky Knoetze, said the unemployment was a crisis that reflected the collapse of provincial governance.
“The Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the fourth quarter of 2025 confirms that the Eastern Cape’s unemployment crisis is not a temporary setback, but a direct reflection of failing governance, collapsing infrastructure, and the continued erosion of investor confidence in the province.”
She said the statistics showed that, on average, three out of every five working-age residents in the rural Eastern Cape cannot find work.
“The DA maintains that rising unemployment in the Eastern Cape is inseparable from poor service delivery, weak leadership and collapsing infrastructure. Investors are withdrawing, small businesses are closing, and skilled workers are leaving the province in search of opportunities elsewhere.
“The loss of major investment opportunities, concerns around the future of the automotive sector in Kariega, and declining industrial confidence illustrate a province that is steadily becoming less competitive,” Knoetze said.
“The result is an economy that cannot attract investment, create jobs or sustain meaningful development. Recent calls urging residents to find work within the province stand in stark contrast to the reality that unemployment is rapidly approaching — and in some areas exceeding — employment levels,” she concluded.
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Zolile Menzelwa
novanews.co.za