The DA in the Western Cape welcomes the results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the 4th Quarter of 2023, which showed that the province added 23 000 jobs over the last quarter. The Q4 QLFS covers the period from October to December 2023.
The net jobs figure for South Africa over the same period, which encompasses all jobs added and lost in all provinces, showed a 22 000 loss of jobs.
Year on year, the Western Cape added 161 000 jobs, 31 000 more than the so-called economic heartland of the country, Gauteng, over the same period.
The Western Cape once again has the lowest unemployment rate in the country at a steady 20.3%, which is 6.6 percentage points lower than the next-best province, the Northern Cape, and an immense 21.6 percentage points lower than the worst performing province, the Eastern Cape.
In addition, the Western Cape has the lowest expanded unemployment rate, which also takes into account discouraged jobseekers, at 25.6%. This is less than half the rate of the worst performing province North West at 52.2%. When compared to the other two biggest provincial economies in the country, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape’s rate is 12.8 and 17.8 percentage points lower respectively.
The immense gap in unemployment between the Western Cape and the rest of the country is proof that the DA’s policy of enabling the private sector is reaping dividends. In stark contrast to the ANC’s policy of overburdening the economy through senseless regulation, the DA-led Western Cape Government is continually working to make this the easiest province to do business in.
It is ultimately the private sector that creates employment, and more and more entrepreneurs are choosing the Western Cape as the best destination to grow their businesses precisely because of the Western Cape Government’s commitment to business-friendly policies like Red-tape Reduction, SMME support through the SMME Booster Fund, the Business Support Helpline and support to businesses looking to do business with government through the Procurement Client Centre. Phelan Energy’s R47 billion investment in a green hydrogen plant in Saldanha Bay, announced by the Premier during yesterday’s State of the Province Address, is case-in-point.
The statistics clearly show that you are much more likely to find a job in the Western Cape than any other province by quite some margin, and it is no accident that this is the case in the only DA-run province in the country.