The Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the fourth quarter of 2025, released today, confirms that the Eastern Cape’s unemployment crisis is not a temporary setback, but a direct reflection of failing governance, collapsing infrastructure, and the continued erosion of investor confidence in the province.
Statistics show that the Eastern Cape’s official unemployment rate now stands at 42.5%, the highest in the country and 5.9 percentage points higher than the same period in 2024. The province is one of only two provinces where unemployment increased year on year.
The report shows that 79,000 jobs have been lost over the past year, including 32,000 in the last three months of 2025. In rural areas of the province, the expanded rate of unemployment has now risen to 61.2%. This means that, on average, three out of every five working-age residents in rural Eastern Cape cannot find work.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) maintains that rising unemployment in the Eastern Cape is inseparable from poor service delivery, weak leadership, and collapsing infrastructure.
Investors are withdrawing, small businesses are closing, and skilled workers are leaving the province in search of opportunities elsewhere. The loss of major investment opportunities, concerns around the future of the automotive sector in Kariega, and declining industrial confidence illustrate a province that is steadily becoming less competitive.
This trend is compounded by failing municipal services, persistent infrastructure breakdowns, corruption, and the government’s inability to spend public funds effectively on growth-enabling projects.
The result is an economy that cannot attract investment, create jobs, or sustain meaningful development.
Premier Oscar Mabuyane’s repeated commitments to explore for gas, oil, and minerals, and to pursue nuclear projects and various job-creation programmes, remain largely unfulfilled. These announcements, frequently made ahead of elections, have yet to translate into tangible economic opportunities for residents.
Recent calls urging residents to find work within the province stand in stark contrast to the reality that unemployment is rapidly approaching — and in some areas exceeding — employment levels.
The crisis facing the Eastern Cape is not accidental. It is man-made. It reflects years of poor governance, lack of accountability, and failed economic leadership.
The time for incremental adjustments has passed. What is required now is decisive reform and radical improvement in governance at local government level, where service delivery failures directly undermine economic growth.
Functioning municipalities are the foundation of job creation, investment attraction, and sustainable development. Without a capable local government, economic recovery will remain impossible.
The people of the Eastern Cape are not asking for miracles. They are asking for opportunity, dignity, and leadership that delivers.