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SA Government | 17 May 2023 Supported Employment Enterprises (SEE) in another dialogue on transitioning of Persons with Disabilities The Supported Employment Enterprises (SEE) is changing gear to partner various economic stakeholders to help transition Persons with Disabilities (PwD) as they transit from school into the labour market. Phakathi said not everyone is academically gifted, some learners are good at vocational training. He said SEE wants to dispel the notion that if one does not have matric there was no future. Phakathi was speaking during a workshop titled: Transitioning from Education to Work for Persons with Disabilities. The workshop was held at ANEW Hotels & Resorts: Hunters Rest in Rustenburg, North West. The workshop is part of the Education for Employability (E4E) programme supported by the European Union (EU). SEE has been holding the workshops as part of a dialogue to devise strategy for intervention to assist transition PwD into the labour market. To date three workshops have been held. The latest workshop was attended by stakeholders which include the Department of Basic Education, Department of Higher Education and Training, Department of Employment and Labour, Compensation Fund, representatives from special schools and non-governmental organisations. “We want to take a community-centred approach towards policy, hence the consultations with people involved at the coal face of learning. We want a solution-based approach to ensure the employability of persons with disabilities. According to Phakathi: “We are no longer interested in compliance – we want commitment. We are now changing gears and want to approach business to work together,” he said, “not everyone will end up in employment. We need to provide entrepreneurial skills – make the young people commanders of their own lives.” He said the focus in assisting PwD should be on ability abilities, rather than disabilities. Phakathi said for the North West province the economic output of this province was not reflected in the employment numbers. He said the province has one of the highest unemployment rates. Phakathi said there was an economic value in the employment of people with disability. He said the SEE proposal to various stakeholders was to partner with SEE, help drive local content and promote the employability of the PwD. The E4E programme was started in 2019 and slowed down due to COVID-19 outbreak. The E4E is a programme that was designed to find ways to ensure that youth have the skills to find or create meaningful and decent employment when they transition to the labour market. E4E is a three-model stream initiative. It is implemented by three Departments – the Department of Basic Education, the Department of Higher Education and Training, and the Department of Employment and Labour. The programme seeks to ensure the Departments collaborate to ensure youth receive the education and skills needed for today’s labour market. Department of Employment and Labour Chief Director: Public Employment Services, Esther Tloane said the low absorption rate of PwD in the labour market was worrying. Tloane said PwD need to be given the opportunity, especially those willing and capable. SEE is an entity of the Department of Employment and Labour, established to provide job opportunities for persons with disabilities. The Supported Employment Enterprises was established in 1943 and was formerly known as Sheltered Employment Factories (SEF). The entity has 13 factories across South Africa operating in eight of the nine provinces, with only Mpumalanga without a facility. The SEE factories are located in Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, East London, Johannesburg, Kimberly, Pietermaritzburg, Port Elizabeth, Potchefstroom, Pretoria and Seshego. The factories employ 1100 persons with disability who are supported by administration, management and technical staff. The entity manufactures office furniture, school furniture, hospital clothes, office safes and gates. For more information, contact: Teboho Thejane Departmental Spokesperson Cell: 082 697 0694 E-mail: Teboho.Thejane@labour.gov.za(link sends e-mail) Issued by: Department of Employment and Labour ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.gov.za/speeches/employment-and-labour-hosts-transitioning-education-work-persons-disabilities-workshop-17

Herman Mashaba | 18 May 2023 ActionSA supports the transformation of the country’s economy, and the need to build an inclusive economy where all South Africans can be genuine roleplayers, but South Africa’s experience over the past few decades has shown that this cannot be achieved through strict numerical targets set by the draft Employment Equity (EE) regulations. ActionSA is concerned that the strict Employment Equity (EE) Act targets, published by Minister Thulas Nxesi, will have the unintended consequence of excluding people who were previously disadvantaged from becoming employed. We believe that the targets may furthermore introduce an additional bureaucratic hurdle and increase the cost of doing business, which may adversely impact job creation in South Africa, leaving the poor and unemployed in an even poorer situation. With the current state of our economy, we cannot be implementing measures that will continue to harm job creation and economic growth. ActionSA, a political party which values social justice, believes that employment equity regulations should achieve equality of opportunity and not equality of the outcome. This means that where there are obstacles that certain groups might experience, both due to historical events as well as current realities, the state should provide support mechanisms to ensure that individuals have the opportunity to overcome those barriers to prosperity. The recently published Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) shows that one of the biggest hurdles to overcome in terms of access to employment is South Africa’s poor education system where 81% of learners in Grade 4 in South Africa are unable to read for meaning. This will perpetuate existing patterns of poverty and inequality as those without the means to afford better quality schooling will be condemned to a reliance on inadequate public schooling. As part of our inaugural Policy Conference in September 2023, ActionSA will be tabling our policies aimed at addressing the issue of economic justice, and building a more inclusive economy for all South Africans. Over the coming months we will be engaging South Africans about what Economic Justice means to them, and how they believe it should be addressed. This will include engaging economic experts, academics and everyday South Africans to help us conceptualise a plan which will achieve equality of opportunity in the country. ActionSA believes the best way to empower our people is by giving them the dignity of a job. Through our current policy process, we are committed to providing new and innovative solutions to the country’s unemployment crises to provide a clear alternative to the ANC’s failed approach. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.actionsa.org.za/actionsa-supports-economic-transformation-but-believes-ee-targets-may-exclude-the-marginalised/

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Boitumelo Kekana | 17 May 2023 Aiming to improve the lives of youth around them, NGOs founders seek funds and accreditation. The Randz Training Solution hosted a workshop to assist non-profit organisations with education on how to get funding and about the processes they can take to ensure that their funds are paid straight into their accounts. The workshop was hosted in Modderfontein, Midrand on April 4. It was hosted by the managing director of Randz, Thapelo Mokgonyana. The workshop included the process of reaching out to SETA for grants, the right documentation that should be submitted with the application, and getting accreditation for existing businesses that are not registered. Knowing scarce skills, NGOs can help with reducing socio-economic issues as they would provide a platform for young people to increase their skills and educate them. One of the concerns that founders raised was that they lack knowledge about funds, which is why some of them get robbed. Caroline Moshahlaba Tiba, the founder of Rotanganedza Community Care who specialise in offering agricultural programmes said, “Funds were coming straight into my account.” “Eventually skills development facilitators ordered us to change banking details to theirs,” Tiba added. This case is proof that the founders of NGOs lack knowledge and that they should attend educational workshops to get it. “Hopefully from here, we will see a lot of accredited NGOs receiving funds.” The workshop attracted organisation founders from all around including Limpopo. Nick Xaba of Angel’s Youth Development Programme, from Limpopo, says he drove all the way from Mokopane to get knowledge about how to get funds as he has been struggling to get information on how to go about the funding process. “The rapid increase of teenage pregnancy in my neighbourhood is scary, and I would like to have a computer centre to keep young girls away from the streets.” “From here I know which steps to follow for me to get the equipment needed,” he added. According to Mokgonyana, accreditation means learners you educate through your NGO can use the certificate to seek employment after they complete their training. REQUIREMENTS FOR SETA FUNDS Be an up-to-day levy-payer that is registered in terms of the Skills Development Levies Act. Employ a skills development facilitator (SDF). The Workplace Skill Plan (WSP) and Annual Training Report are submitted by the required deadline. The WSP for the previous reporting period has been submitted and implemented. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://midrandreporter.co.za/321074/ngo-owners-to-get-knowledge-on-how-to-get-funds/

ABC Traders decides to use a third-party facilitator to distribute Enterprise Development funds to Beneficiaries. The money to the third-party facilitator was transferred two weeks before its financial year ended in February 2023. However, the third-party facilitator only transferred the funds to the end Beneficiaries at the end of March 2023. When using the services of a third-party facilitator, when does Enterprise Development spend be considered a claim? Is it when the third-party facilitator receives the funds or when the end Beneficiary receives the funds? An Enterprise Development contribution is only considered spend when it reaches the end Beneficiary. Therefore, in this instance, where the third-party facilitator distributed the funds outside the Measurement Period, ABC Traders may only claim the amount paid out in March 2023 in the next Measurement Period. Enterprise & Supplier Development Services are available to assist Members with insight into Enterprise Development Contributions.

LMN Enterprises is an Enterprise Development Beneficiary of ABC Traders who holds 51% ownership in it. ABC Traders' Enterprise Development contributions towards LMN Enterprises are in line with the criteria in series 400 . The Amended General B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice do not expressly state whether a Beneficiary may or may not be ‘controlled’ by the measured entity. The only reference that might have any bearing on the above is Statement 000 , Par 2.2, which states: "In interpreting the provisions of the Codes of Good Practice, any reasonable interpretation consistent with the objectives of the B-BBEE Act as amended and the B-BBEE Strategy must take precedence.” The Amended General B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice, however, do refer to the Companies Act, Paragraph 3 (subsidiary relationships), which states the following: “A company is a subsidiary of another juristic person if that juristic person is directly or indirectly able to exercise or control the exercise of a majority of the general Voting Rights.” The Amended General B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice define ‘enterprise development contributions’ and ‘supplier development contributions’ in Schedule 1 . As a majority shareholder in LMN Enterprises, can ABC Traders claim its contribution to them as Enterprise Development spend? As ABC Traders has the majority ownership in LMN Enterprises, contributions made by ABC Traders do not constitute Enterprise Development spend as the objective of the Enterprise Development cannot be fully met since there is no operational independence. This is because the ABC Traders has significant economic connections to the beneficiary entity. Enterprise & Supplier Development Services are available to assist Members with insight into Enterprise Development Contributions.

A QSE that is more than 51% ‘Black’-owned qualifies for Enhanced Recognition, which means that an Affidavit is the only B-BBEE Credential they have to present. Paragraph 5.3 of Statement 000 published in Gazette #42496 makes the following allowance for Enhanced Recognition: 5.3 Enhanced B-BBEE recognition level for QSE: 5.3.1 Despite paragraph 5.2 above, a QSE which is 100% Black-owned, measured using the flow-through principle, qualifies for elevation to a “B-BBEE Level One Contributor” having a B-BBEE recognition level of 135%. 5.3.2 Despite paragraph 5.2 above, a QSE which is at least 51% Black-owned, measured using the flow-through principle, qualifies for elevation to a “B-BBEE Level Two Contributor” having a B-BBEE recognition level of 125%. 5.3.3 A Black-owned QSE in terms of paragraph 5.3. above, is only required to obtain a sworn affidavit on an annual basis, confirming the following: 5.3.3.1 Annual Total Revenue of between R10 million and R50 million; and 5.3.3.2 Level of Black ownership. Thus, as they have met the Ownership criteria, they are not required to meet the Management Control, Skills Development, Enterprise & Supplier Development or Socio-economic Development targets. Furthermore, paragraphs 5.4 and 5.5 make the following references: 5.4 Despite paragraph 5.3 a Black-owned QSE may be measured in terms of the QSE scorecard should it so choose. 5.5 Any misrepresentation in terms of paragraph 5.3 above constitutes a criminal offence as set out in the B-BBEE Act as amended. Certificate Collection Services are available to address any queries in relation to the validity of supplier B-BBEE Certificates

Hani Raad | 17 May 2023 The pace of innovation and the deployment of new enterprise technologies mean that the hiring needs of businesses are constantly changing. If they want to capitalise on new, cutting-edge tech solutions, they need the knowledge and technical capabilities to deploy, optimise, and maintain them. And in the face of a shortage of critical skills in South Africa and across the world, businesses need to get smart about how they search for and secure skills. Effective recruitment begins by understanding the critical skills landscape. Enterprises need to take a proactive approach and rethink how they recruit new talent in networking, security, and 4IR technologies, and how they can contribute to creating new education and employment opportunities. IT jobs are en vogue According to Gartner, worldwide IT spending is projected to total $4.6tn in 2023, an increase of 5.1% from 2022. Digital business initiatives are fuelling this growth as leaders turn their attention to the digital economy and how they can participate in it. But participation is a non-starter if businesses are not technologically strong, something that requires the right skills. Therefore, talent acquisition needs to be a priority. Specialisation is also an important factor to consider. A company cannot digitally transform, or even function properly, with just one IT person handling everything. For example, cloud computing is one of this year’s biggest business and IT trends, and the mark of an innovation-driven enterprise. Because of that, many businesses are building teams of software engineers and cloud architects to create custom software and products. Confronting the skills shortage head-on South Africa faces a shortage of critical skills, with the pressure felt most in sectors like IT and finance. Expensive tertiary education and low salaries mean that recruiters and HR departments struggle to find the talent and expertise they need. In the case of IT, we lack professionals in fields such as software development, technical and business architecture, and data analysis and warehousing. In response, employers are shifting gears, placing more value on technical certifications and experience with new technologies than on traditional, tertiary qualifications, though the latter is still valuable. Now is the time for the public and private sectors to invest in digital skills training. But inclusivity must also be prioritised when it comes to hiring processes. A multitude and diverse collection of minds, viewpoints, and backgrounds are the ingredients of a dynamic and innovative working environment. The real potential for this lies with the current generation of young professionals, which is why digital acceleration and upskilling programmes are so important to close the skills gap and empower everyone to participate in a globally connected, digital economy. Enterprises also need to consider how their working environments and conditions can affect talent recruitment and retention. Today’s professionals are inclined to workplaces and employers that take their overall wellbeing into account, by offering incentives such as flexible work schedules, and promoting cultures of respect and collaboration. Many professionals seek roles that give them the space to grow and take on more responsibilities, which is where multinational and digitally transformed companies have the edge. But regardless of whether you’re an SME just starting or a leader in your industry, you stand to benefit from a targeted approach to hiring and clear skill acquisition goals. Optimising your recruitment strategy To attract professionals with expertise in a specific IT field, organisations need to refine their recruitment processes. Some steps to consider include streamlining the process, improving job advertisements, identifying passive candidates, and even considering and then onboarding internal ones. Who knows, the talent call may be coming from inside the house. Organisations can take their recruitment strategies a step further by using virtual technology to connect with graduates and professionals. Platforms such as the Cisco Talent Bridge Matching Engine are designed to match the needs of employers with the talent that’s available and eager to start working. This makes it easy for recruiters to identify candidates, and gives candidates access to job openings that mirror their skill set and expertise. This is applicable across the IT sector, regardless of whether you’re looking for someone proficient in cloud technologies, networking, or security. And remember, businesses that accommodate remote workers and embrace hybrid work models are better positioned to source talent from around the world. Hybrid work models help with talent retention, as surveys have shown employees are less likely to look for new roles. With all this in mind, enterprises can meet their IT and networking needs with a recruitment strategy that works for them. Thanks to an evolving digital skills landscape brimming with potential, businesses can make great strides in both creating opportunities for young professionals and jumpstarting their own digital transformation journeys. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/500/238477.html

ENCA | 17 March 2023 Johannesburg - The Youth Economic Council says government has failed to develop job opportunities outside major cities. It was reacting to the latest unemployment statistics. The official jobless rate increased to 32.9 percent in the first three months of the year. This translates to just under 8-million people officially out of work. Those without jobs between 15 and 24 years of age sits at a staggering 62-percent. Sectors that shed jobs in the period include mining, manufacturing and construction. The council says the government must prioritise developing smaller economies outside cities. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.enca.com/news/youth-economic-council-reacts-youth-unemployment-statistics

Gabriel Crouse | 16 May 2023 Like P W Botha in the 1980s, Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi has reached his Rubicon moment in publishing proposed “sectoral targets” for so-called “employment equity” that will in effect impose racial moratoria on hiring and promoting staff in the private sector. Nxesi’s race “targets” have been published for comment under the new Employment Equity Act (EEA), a central feature of the ANC government’s campaign to socially engineer society, which the IRR has warned against for years. Roughly 85% of the formal private workforce falls directly under these “targets”, which Nxesi recommended to MPs when he said in parliament that “we now need a more aggressive strategy” on race law. As Nxesi is Minister of Employment and Labour, it is worth noting that under his watch South Africa has come to achieve the worst unemployment rate recorded anywhere. In addition, it is patently clear that most South Africans are opposed to Nxesi’s race-first policy. In the latest poll commissioned by the IRR, 80% of all respondents and 80% of black respondents preferred merit-based appointments, most with extra training for the genuinely disadvantaged, to the kind of racial moratoria that are now gripping South Africa’s labour market. Setting up race targets that produce racial moratoria on hiring – as took place at Dis-Chem – is the opposite of non-racialism. Most people want better. Said IRR Fellow Gabriel Crouse: “My hope is that this is the pivot after which race law is exposed as being so obviously defunct that resistance to it among decent South Africans starts gaining ground. In 1985 PW Botha thought that doubling down on racial oppression would keep him in power, but the racist arrogance of his ‘Rubicon’ moment produced a different result. To my eye Nxesi bears an uncanny resemblance to Botha and South African decency may yet teach him the same hard lesson.” What the sectoral targets mean Minister Nxesi has made the sub-regional “5-year sectoral targets” equal to “0.0%” for some racial minorities in the newly gazetted EEA “Sectoral Targets” regulations, which are open for comment for the next 30 days. Should they remain unchanged, they will be enforceable by fines that climb to 10% of revenue for repeat “offences”. The “0.0%” target is most frequently imposed against coloured people. Noted IRR Fellow Gabriel Crouse: “We have seen targets of ‘0%’ before in the public service for some minority races, but we have never seen ‘0.0%’ in the public or private sector. Many people will be surprised to learn that there is legal significance to the extra zero. This can only be understood, however, once one realises that existing South African race law already turns on treating people, especially racial minorities, as fractions below 1 but above 0.” The case of Jennila Naidoo, heard in 2012 in the Labour Court, is instructive. Naidoo was denied a SAPS promotion in Krugersdorp explicitly on the basis of race. A black man with lower scores was hired instead. Naidoo first seemed to win her case in court, but the Labour Court of Appeal set the winning judgment aside and replaced it with what remains the standing judicial opinion on what a “zero” percent “target” means in the context of race law. The formula by which Naidoo was racially excluded from a job she deserved was summarised by the court as follows. “For Indian females the calculation is 19 × 2.5% = 0.5 positions to be filled by Indians, then 0.5 × 30% = 0.1 Indian females and that is rounded off to zero. Of the five available positions 0.125 could go to Indians × 30% gender allocation means 0.037 could be allocated to Indian females and that is rounded to zero.” The Labour Court of Appeal unanimously held that this rounding “to zero” in the “equity plan did not proscribe the appointment of Indian females”. The court said that Indian females like Naidoo still stood a chance, despite the rounding to zero, because “had there been more posts on level 14 in Gauteng the formula might have yielded a different result that would have made provision for Indians or Indian females”. In other words “0.037 could be allocated to Indian females and that is rounded to zero” according to the actual plan, but if there had been many more positions to begin with then that might have been rounded to “1”, and then some Indian women might have had a chance. The court’s opinion then directly added that it “was common cause that two Indian females were appointed on level 14 in KwaZulu-Natal because the requirements of the respective business units provided for such appointments. This also showed that the employment equity plan was not an absolute barrier against the employment of Indian females.” In other words, Indian females like Naidoo from Gauteng could, in theory, move to KZN where the “target” is above “zero”. Inhumane as that situation was, and remains in the public service, it may now be even worse in the private sector, as the move from “0” to “0.0%” “targets” entails that no matter how many new jobs are added at a given subsector there will never be a rounding up to “1”. It is also worth noting that in the Barnard case in 2014 the Constitutional Court ruled that it is permissible for a person to be refused a promotion explicitly on the basis of race in a case where the job – a post in SAPS – did not go to someone else. The post was simply left vacant. The Constitutional Court has subsequently held that the “Barnard principle” can be used against any race. For these reasons Nxesi may be emboldened to think that his race plan will work. It will not. The EEA “targets” are counter-productive and unconstitutional. Non-racialism is a Chapter 1 foundational value in South Africa’s Constitution. The IRR submitted to Nxesi, the Presidency, and Parliament, demonstrations of at least six grounds on which the new EEA is unconstitutional, including that it is certain to make poor, unemployed black people worse off by making South Africa even more uninvestable. Issued by Gabriel Crouse, IRR Fellow, 16 May 2023 ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.politicsweb.co.za/politics/nxesi-faces-his-rubicon-moment-with-racelaw-target

Staff Writer | 16 May 2023 The Department of Employment and Labour has gazetted the draft sectoral employment equity targets for designated businesses in South Africa for public comment. The employment and labour minister has set targets in terms of the country’s new Employment Equity Amendment Act, which was recently assented to by President Cyril Ramaphosa. Under the new laws, the employment minister is empowered to set sector-specific numerical targets for the racial and gender makeup of designated businesses, which must be achieved over five years. The targets are expressed as a percentage of the population, either nationally or provincially, and it is up to businesses to choose one or the other in executing their transformation plans, the department said. Designated businesses are all businesses in South Africa that employ more than 50 people. Failure to comply with the laws can result in penalties, such as fines. Companies seeking to do business with the government will also need a Certificate of Compliance from the department. Furthermore, the EE Act requires employers to submit employment equity plans and annual reports on their progress in meeting the targets. The laws apply to all designated businesses – even those that have no intention of doing business with the state. Targets Broadly, the proposed targets appear to push companies to be more demographically representative, especially in top and senior management positions. The department did not publish an explanatory note with the gazette explaining how the targets are to be read. The tables instead show a barrage of percentages split across: 18 industries/sectors 4 skill levels per industry (Top management; Senior management; Professional; Skilled) 4 racial groups per skill level (plus a total for “Black” which includes Indian, Coloured and African) 2 genders (Male; Female) 10 regional breakdowns for all of the above (9 provinces and national). Each sector breakdown features a workforce profile for 2022, which is ostensibly what the targets are set against, although this is not explicitly stated. The targets look at 18 sectors overall. The full breakdown of the targets can be seen in the file below. The proposed targets are open for public comment for 30 days. Challenges ahead Notably, the 2022 profiles show a wide over-representation of white South Africans in the workforce, particularly in top and senior management. However, the purported targets do not account for the shifts away from these figures. Simply put – the numbers don’t add up, which has already raised flags among commentators. Business interest group Sakeliga has, through its attorneys, written to the employment minister demanding that the gazette be withdrawn. Sakeliga said that the targets are incoherent and incomprehensible, adding that if the regulations are promulgated, they will be susceptible to judicial review. “The draft regulations… seek to determine race and gender quotas per industry per province. However, the regulations have been so incoherently and incomprehensibly constructed that it is impossible to formulate meaningful comments on the proposed targets. “Furthermore, no explanation was provided to assist in making sense of the numbers,” the group said. Sakeliga said is totally opposed to state interference in private enterprises. “The draft regulations and the enabling legislation for them provide for intrusive race and gender quotas which the minister can ostensibly impose on any business with more than 50 employees. “Sakeliga is already busy preparing court papers to have the amended Act reviewed and the most objectionable parts of it set aside. The fact that the draft regulations in terms of the Act are unintelligible and incoherent is an aggravating circumstance,” it said. Sakeliga said that, as it currently stands, the group cannot comment on the draft regulations, “and the rest of the public probably won’t be able to either”. Trade union Solidarity is also in the midst of a court process challenging the new BEE laws, saying they place excessive focus on racial categorisation and ultimately give an afterlife to ‘apartheid-style’ classifications. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/688535/these-are-all-the-new-bee-targets-for-businesses-in-south-africa/

Darren Parker | 16 May 2023 Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has revealed that the official unemployment rate has increased by 0.2 percentage points, from 32.7% in the fourth quarter of 2022 to 32.9% in the first quarter of this year. “We are not creating sufficient employment,” statistician-general Risenga Maluleke said on May 16 at the release of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the first quarter, noting a total growth in employment of 8.6%, down from the 10.4% and 9.6% in the third and fourth quarters of last year respectively. The QLFS showed that the overall number of employed persons in South Africa had increased by 258 000 quarter-on-quarter from 15.9-million to 16.2-million. However, the number of unemployed individuals also increased from 7.8-million to 7.9-million. The overall unemployment rate was adversely impacted by more individuals attempting to enter the workforce, leading to a decrease in non-economically active discouraged work seekers, from 3.4-million to 3.3-million, while other non-economically active individuals also decreased by 209 000 from 13.4-million to 13.2-million. Both the formal and informal sectors recorded increases in employment of 209 000 and 107 000, respectively. Despite the rise in the unemployment rate, financial institution Nedbank commented that the continued increase in employment was comforting. In its analysis of the QLFS, the bank said that other high-frequency data out so far suggests a modest improvement in the first quarter compared with the final quarter of last year, implying that the economy will probably avoid a technical recession. Despite the rise in the unemployment rate, the continued increase in employment is comforting. Other high-frequency data out so far suggests a modest improvement in the first quarter compared with the final quarter of last year, implying that the economy will probably avoid a technical recession. However, Nedbank believed that the outlook for the rest of the year remained bleak as the economy faced significant headwinds, which would hamper the job market. “Slower demand in most major economies, hurt by the high cost of living, will exert downward pressure on commodity prices and weigh on export-orientated industries such as mining and manufacturing. Unfortunately, those two industries are also power intensive and will therefore suffer the most pain from the electricity crisis,” Nedbank said. Other industries are also facing hardship ahead, thanks to ongoing intensive load-shedding. Nedbank believed that higher interest rates and fragile consumer confidence would contain consumer spending and hurt corporate profits. “While the government is accelerating efforts to deal with issues at Eskom, it will take years to resolve this challenge completely. Therefore, the cost of doing business will remain high,” the bank said. The finance sector is one of the sectors hurting the least, having recorded the largest employment gains, adding 184 000 jobs over the last quarter. However, as at the fourth quarter of last year, the finance sector only makes up 15.6% of the country’s total employment, despite it representing 23.9% of nominal gross domestic product (GDP). The community and social services sector added 175 000 jobs during the first quarter, while the agriculture sector added 27 000. Meanwhile, employment losses were recorded in the private households, trade, mining, construction and manufacturing sectors. Private household employment went down by 85 000 jobs, trade by 28 000, mining by 24 000, construction by 11 000 and manufacturing by 2 000. As at the fourth quarter of last year, a 20.7% share of the country’s employment figures were represented by the trade sector, against its 14.3% share of GDP. The construction sector also employed more than its fair share, representing 7.6% of the employed workforce against only 2.4% of GDP. A similarly unsustainable circumstance was seen in the agriculture sector, which employed 5.4% of the total employed individuals in the country for only 1.5% contribution to GDP. Private households employed the most when contrasted against GDP, representing 7.5% of employed individuals against virtually no contribution to GDP. Nedbank believed that the pace of implementation of measures to resolve the various key impediments to economic growth has been slow. These include measures to curb corruption, reduce skills shortages, overcome policy challenges, and refurbish deteriorating logistical networks. “Under these circumstances, business confidence will remain depressed, and the private sector will most likely limit investment spending and employment growth,” the bank said. It added that employment by the government would also be limited by the fiscal consolidation path, which, among other key objectives, prioritises the reduction of the wage bill. In Gauteng, employment figures went up by 80 000 – the largest increase among the provinces. Limpopo's employment figures went up by 71 000, with the Western Cape up by 62 000, KwaZulu-Natal up by 54 000 and the Eastern Cape up by 41 000 quarter-on-quarter. In Mpumalanga, however, employment losses of 45 000 were recorded, with the North West and Free State recording 4 000 job losses each. The youth, between the ages of 15 and 34 years old, remain the most vulnerable demographic in the labour market, with the QLFS showing that the total number of unemployed youth increased by 241 000 to 4.9-million. Only 28 000 new jobs were filled by this section of the economy, taking the total number of employed youths to 5.6-million. The consequence of these figures is an increase in the youth unemployment rate of 1.1 percentage points to 46.5% for the first quarter. "The number of unemployed and discouraged work seekers who can enter the job market remains high, so even if employment were to increase, the unemployment rate is likely to remain structurally high over the medium term," Nedbank said. ‘Disclaimer - The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’. https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/unemployment-rate-rises-to-329-as-more-people-enter-the-job-market-2023-05-16