What can we do to fix SA’s unemployment crisis?

South Africa’s unemployment rate increased by 7.5 percentage points to 30.8% in the third quarter of 2020 compared with the second quarter, according to data from Statistics South Africa – but the numbers don’t tell the whole story. While the number of employed people increased by 543,000, compared to the second quarter, the number of unemployed people jumped to 6.5 million, with a further 17.9 million people deemed ‘not economically active’. The World Economic Forum’s Jobs Reset Summit last month made it clear that the ability to create jobs rapidly for young people, lower wage workers and women will be key to the world’s ability to create a ‘Great Reset’ of our economies and societies. So what can government and business do to start making a dent in the problem?
Michael Avery sits down with PwC economist Christie Viljoen, to talk about the unconventional ways in which the government needs to start thinking about how it tackles unemployment.