Joblessness crisis in SA

INVESTMENT: NEED FOR NEW GROWTH PATH

- Imraan Valodia

Over 11m unemployed between the ages of 15-24, including those who have given up finding jobs.

Everyone agrees that solving the unemployment problem in South Africa is the number one priority for economic policy for the new government, as it has been for all governments since 1994. What is less clear, and highly contested, is what should be done to solve this problem.

It's worth starting by acknowledging that the problem is complex.

The official unemployment rate is 32.9%. If discouraged workers are included (people who have given up trying to find jobs), the unemployment rate is 41.9%. For young people, aged 15-24, the unemployment rate is 59.7%. If discouraged workers are included, about 11.2 million South Africans are unemployed.

First, it's important to understand why unemployment in SA is so high. There are two main sets of issues - some global (such as changing employment patterns), and some specific to SA (such as the legacy left by the country's apartheid past).