/ 20 October 1997

Half black women jobless

MONDAY, 8.00AM

A UNIVERSITY of Cape Town report on unemployment reveals that a quarter of South Africa’s black men and half the black women are unemployed. A third of South African blacks earn less than R500 per month. By contrast, 5% of whites are unemployed, and less than 5% of whites earn less than R500.

The report, part of the business school’s Breakwater Project, which monitors business information, warns that such extreme inequalities contribute to social unrest and crime, and undermine growth and development.

The study also notes that the top performing companies in the country employ slightly more women and black employees than the average.