Five Reasons for the High rate of Unemployment in South Africa

In South Africa, the high rate of unemployment is always concerning. Perhaps if we identify the reasons for such a high unemployment rate, a solution can be found. On this page, we discuss five reasons for the high rate of unemployment in South Africa.

Before we get into the typical causes of unemployment at any given country, South Africa is presented with rather unique types of unemployment challenges that are worth knowing. Where do jobs come from? That’s the biggest question that seems to puzzle many South Africans, as many think jobs come from the government. Well, for jobs to exist, they need to be created by any individual and not solely by the government. Jobs become existent when someone identifies a gap in service delivery and seeks to fill it. By feeling the service gap in a society, we create and add value to the people. When we add that value through offering a service, many jobs are created while the service demand keeps on growing.

Jobs can be created by anyone offering a service (in a legal way of course), any time and any how, as long as there is a value add to the society. Unfortunately, many South Africans find themselves unnecessarily unemployed because of failing to identify the service gap, where they could start adding so much value to other fellow citizens while creating employment for themselves and others. Indeed, the government also has a role to play in terms of:

• empowering people through influencing policies that encourage entrepreneurship and regulate the private sector,
• business funding, and hiring people to offer public services.

But the fact still remains that the majority of the jobs can be created by ordinary South African citizens. Small tiny businesses in the backyards give birth to the big corporates that employ thousands of workers.

List of Five Reasons for the High rate of Unemployment in South Africa

Apart from the reasons mentioned above, lets look at some of the existing realities that cause high rate of unemployment in South AFrica:

• Companies are hiring less and less people because of technology and cost cutting
• There is a great skill shortage (to take on new jobs opportunities) in the ever changing world of work influenced by digital technology that cause many South Africans to be irrelevant in the corporate world.
• Retrenchment fuels the rise of job loss in South Africa
• In the era of digital technology and the global economy, buyers of products look for cheap imports and local people lose jobs as factories close down using the internet.
• Less people are creating jobs, which leads to higher demand than supply; meaning there are more job applicants than jobs available.