Parties and labour organisations have slammed the 2026 Budget for failing to tackle low growth, high unemployment, and municipal distress, while cautiously welcoming tax relief and social grant increases
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has confirmed increases to social grants, including old-age, disability and child support, supporting 26.5 million South Africans amid high unemployment.
Labour federations Cosatu and the South African Federation of Trade Unions have led calls for a budget that addresses massive unemployment and weak growth
The employed population increased to 17.1 million, but youth unemployment rose to 43.8% in the fourth quarter of 2025
A year after the president’s first State of the Nation address as the leader of a coalition government, performance has been good and bad
The Lanseria smart city remains a dream and hunger, unemployment and crime continue to be high but there has been progress in Eskom’s turnaround
South Africa’s hunger crisis is deepening, with millions of households skipping meals and children facing severe deprivation, a new report warns
What should have been a model for climate action has become a cautionary tale of what happens when communities are excluded from decisions that reshape their lives
The new dawn that the President spoke about in 2018 is no longer an elusive mirage
He said the party would be run strictly, with zero tolerance for corruption, ill-discipline and factionalism
The initiative is supported by the department of higher education and training, underscoring the government’s commitment to digital transformation in education, alongside a network of implementation partners
While the scars left by the April 2022 flash floods aren’t obvious to visitors to Inanda, the township just northwest of Durban, the collective and individual trauma, often left unspoken, continues to linger
Far from being ‘the land of milk and honey’ corruption continues, those named by the Zondo state capture of the Jacob Zuma era remain, as does unemployment and violence
The new Transformation Fund for companies in distress as a result of Donald Trump’s tariffs should be transferred to workers
Anglo Platinum has invested in renewable energy but ignored the local community’s proposals for socially-owned clean energy
But the Democratic Alliance has said it will boycott the dialogue that will take place over nine months, calling it a waste of time and money
For the millions of jobless people, this discussion is trivial
The Democratic Alliance, which has launched a court challenge to the amended Act, says it cannot have a place in democratic South Africa
The requirements of the job market in all professions require ongoing university curriculum reviews to assess each programme’s relevance and alignment with the needs of professions, industry and society
Black economic empowerment has been transformative but it needs to be revisited to broaden its pool of beneficiaries
There is no factual evidence that deindustrialisation, poverty, inequality and unemployment is caused by black economic empowerment, as argued by William Gumede
Three actions — debt reduction, a youth solidarity tax and limiting increases in public-sector salaries — that could lead to sustainable prosperity
President Cyril Ramaphosa will use his Washington visit to demand an end to US trade tariffs and counter refugee claims of racial persecution.
Jobs were lost in the formal sector, as well as in trade, construction and private households
The central bank has maintained price stability but needs to focus on growth given the high unemployment rate.
Activity-based and experiential learning should be encouraged at school and tertiary institutions so that the academic curricula must align with new realities.
About 32% of the population is unemployed; of the employed, 35.9% are in informal work; and of the formally employed, nearly 40% earn less than R3,500 a month
Freedom is not about slogans or votes, it is something we must make together by our actions, in a country inured to violence and a world where self-interest rules.
Urgent reform is needed as dangerous socio-economic undercurrents swirl
Automation, driven by artificial intelligence, threatens jobs for low-skilled and semi-skilled workers and these groups are also subjected to higher interest rates and unfavourable lending conditions
Despair overtakes bright young minds whose dreams of applying their knowledge are shattered
This marks the second consecutive drop in the jobless rate, and the lowest since the third quarter of 2023