This speech was delivered by the Leader of the Official Opposition in the EC Legislature, Dr Vicky Knoetze MPL, during the handover of a memorandum of demands at the Office of the Premier of the Eastern Cape in Bhisho. She was joined by DA EC Provincial Chairperson, Yusuf Cassim MPL, DA EC Provincial Spokesperson, Cllr Georgina Faldtman, DA Buffalo City Constituency Leader, Leander Kruger MPL, and DA Youth Eastern Cape Chairperson Amzolele Nkolisa. Please find attached soundbites in English and Afrikaans by Dr Vicky Knoetze MPL and see pictures here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Fellow Democrats and Residents of the Eastern Cape,
Today, we gather not just as supporters of a cause, but as people who understand that something is deeply wrong in our province.
On this Workers’ Day, we stand here in the provincial capital, Bhisho, representing a province with the highest unemployment rate in the country. A province where half our people cannot take care of their families because they cannot find work, a province where a matric certificate, a diploma, or even a degree does not guarantee a job.
Opportunity is no longer within reach. And hope is becoming harder to hold onto.
The Eastern Cape is facing one of the worst unemployment crises in South Africa. Right now, the official unemployment stands at 42.5% The expanded rate, which includes people who have given up looking for work, is over 51%. In rural areas, it rises to over 60%.
In many communities, this means that more people are without work than in employment. Over the past year alone, 79,000 jobs have been lost, with 32,000 of those losses occurring in just the final quarter of 2025. That means in many communities, more people are without work than in work.
Think about that. These are not just statistics. These are people that once had hope in their eyes and a dream in their hearts.
They are parents who cannot provide for their children and their families. They are young people who have no hope for a future in the Eastern Cape. Families are forced to survive instead of live. It is a life without meaning and a life without dignity.
In too many homes, a job is no longer the norm. It has become the exception. And when that happens, something deeper is lost – dignity. stability. hope.
But here is the hardest part: This province is not poor in potential. While we live in a province where unemployment has become a crisis, we also live in a province with enormous potential. A province that has two import/export harbours, a province that should be the jewel in the tourism crown of the Eastern Cape, a province that houses more than half of South Africa’s entire automotive industry infrastructure, a province with talented and gifted people, a province with all the resources to be the most outstanding province in South Africa. So why aren’t we?
Let me be clear. This crisis is not inevitable. It is the direct result of poor governance.
- When government fails, jobs disappear.
- When municipalities collapse and cannot deliver even the most basic of services, investment disappears.
Nearly a third of municipalities in the Eastern Cape are officially in distress. 16 out of our 39 municipalities cannot deliver services. That number grows every single year. Basic services such as water, electricity, and roads are not being delivered. This leads to massive disinvestment in our small towns and even our metros. Businesses do not invest where there is no reliability.
Factories do not expand where infrastructure is broken. Entrepreneurs do not take risks where government cannot deliver. The result is disinvestment, closing businesses and people losing their livelihoods.
We cannot speak about the Eastern Cape economy and jobs in our province without speaking about the automotive industry, which is the number one contributor to our GDP in the province.
Nowhere is the economic decline and job losses more visible than in our automotive sector, the industry that is the backbone of the Eastern Cape economy.
It supports 115,000 direct jobs nationally and 500,000 indirect jobs. The Eastern Cape produces 45% of South Africa’s vehicles and accounts for over 50% of vehicle exports. It is the engine room of our economy, but right now that engine light is on!
Since the US Liberation Day Tariffs came into effect exports have dropped by 87%. Factories have reduced shifts from three to one.
At Goodyear in Kariega 907 jobs has already been lost, at Mercedes-Benz South Africa over 700 jobs are gone, with more at risk. At VWSA 4,000 workers face uncertainty.
The reasons for this are:
- A lack of incentives and tax breaks and a lack of support.
- Policy reform delays, especially in terms of new energy vehicles. Let me remind you that by 2035 we will no longer be able to export Internal Combustion Engine vehicles to the EU. The Eastern Cape has the opportunity to become the New Energy Vehicle Hub, not only of South Africa, but the entire continent, but the leadership is sitting on their hands!
- Energy instability.
- Broken logistics infrastructure.
- Lack of incentives and support.
- And failure to secure strong alternative export markets.
If this sector collapses further, the consequences will be devastating.
Entire towns depend on these jobs. Entire supply chains depend on these factories. Entire futures depend on this industry’s survival and growth.
Today we have gathered here to advocate and to fight for solutions.
The Democratic Alliance has been clear and consistent over the past years.
This crisis is manmade and can be turned around. But only with leadership that understands what needs to be done and acts on it.
That is why today we are:
- Demanding accountability
We have formally requested for an urgent debate of Unemployment as a Matter of Public Importance in the Legislature next week to force government to present a credible jobs turnaround strategy for our province.
- Fighting for better governance
Where the DA governs, things work. That is why, while the EC has unemployment of 42.5%, the Western Cape has unemployment of only 18.1%.
We need functional municipalities, reliable basic service delivery, clean governance that attracts investment and the eradication of cadre deployment. Because jobs follow good governance.
- Protecting the automotive industry
We are requesting for the Eastern Cape as the province with the largest share of the automotive industry and automotive jobs to take the lead in advocating for urgent policy reform, including:
- Fast-tracking New Energy Vehicle policy.
- Incentivising local manufacturing.
- Supporting component producers.
- Fixing ports and rail logistics.
- Securing alternative trade agreements.
We must level the playing field so our industries can compete globally.
The Eastern Cape does not lack potential. It lacks leadership that turns potential into opportunity and progress.
Right now, unemployment is not just an economic issue. It is a crisis of dignity. But it does not have to stay this way. We can choose a different path.
A path where government works, businesses grow, industries are supported and people have jobs. A path where dignity is restored. That is what we are fighting for. That is what the Democratic Alliance stands for.
And that is why we say today:
The people of the Eastern Cape deserve better. And together we are going to fight for a meaningful life of dignity for all the people of our province.
Democratic Alliance – Eastern Cape
ec.da.org.za