The eThekwini Municipality has made significant strides in easing unemployment.
The Municipality recorded the lowest official unemployment rate as compared to other metropolitan municipalities in South Africa, according to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the second quarter of 2026, released by Statistics South Africa.
The survey places eThekwini’s unemployment rate at 21.2% for April to June 2026, lower than Cape Town at 21.9% and well below the national average of 33.6%.
EThekwini Mayor, Councillor Cyril Xaba, said the results reflect sustained work to stabilise the City’s investment environment.
“These figures show that the fundamentals we have been working on, which include infrastructure, investment facilitation and support for the industrial and tourism sectors, are translating into jobs for our residents.
“We do not read this as a finish line. More than 340,000 people in this city are still looking for work, and our absorption rate must go higher. But the direction of travel is correct, and we intend to sustain it,” Xaba said.
The latest figures mark a 5.6 percentage point decline from the 26.8% recorded in the same quarter of 2025, the sharpest fall of any metro over the period.
“The number of employed residents rose to 1.29 million, an increase of 90,000 compared with the second quarter of 2025.
“Over the same period, unemployed residents fell by 92,000 to 347,000, making eThekwini the only metro to record declines both quarter‑on‑quarter and year‑on‑year,” the Municipality said.
The City’s absorption rate (share of working‑age residents in employment) climbed to 46.9% from 44.2% a year earlier, the largest improvement of any metro.
Growth was concentrated in the formal sector, which employed 948,000 people in the second quarter, up 32,000 from the previous quarter.
The Municipality emphasised that unemployment remains the most significant challenge facing residents.
It said it will continue to prioritise infrastructure investment, support for small businesses and strengthen partnerships with the private sector to expand employment opportunities. -SAnews.gov.za
