Minister of Employment and Labour Nomakhosazana Meth
SCORE: E
Despite her efforts to make the department a more proactive facilitator of job creation, Meth still faces an unemployment rate above 30% at the end of 2025. The unemployment rate rose to 33.2% in the second quarter but dropped to 31.9% in the third quarter of 2025, which means employment increased by approximately 248 000.
In her budget vote, Meth announced that R10.98 billion was allocated to labour activation programmes targeting 240 000 placements this year and 690 000 over the medium term, half of which are reserved for youth, women, and persons with disabilities.
This is part of the department’s commitment to create two million jobs by 2030. The department came under the negative spotlight earlier in the year when the Auditor General of South Africa flagged systemic failures in financial and administrative controls at the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the Compensation Fund. The UIF distributed over R800 million in Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme funding, yet over R200 million remained unaccounted for, with the AG unable to verify some of the companies that received these payments.
The department’s strategy plan outlines ambitions for improved governance, labour-market reform, enforcement, and social protection — but these reforms now loom large in light of the AGSA’s findings.