ActionSA called for the implementation of pro- small, medium-sized and micronterprise (SMME) reforms, cutting of red tape and prioritisation of creation of real jobs, particularly in the informal sector, before the economic and social costs become irreparable.

South Africa's official unemployment rate decreased by 0.5 of a percentage point to 31.4% in the fourth quarter of 2025, compared with the unemployment rate of 31.9% in the third quarter, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) reported.

Stats SA's Quarterly Labour Force Survey showed an increase of 44 000 in the number of employed persons to 17.1-million and a decrease of 172 000 in the number of unemployed persons to 7.8-million in the fourth quarter.

Stats SA's data showed that the number of persons employed in the formal sector increased by 320 000 in the fourth quarter, while informal sector employment decreased by 293 000.

ActionSA Member of Parliament Alan Beesley said in a country where SMMEs should be the engine of employment, government red tape was throttling their ability to expand and hire.

He highlighted that while government celebrated a marginal drop in the official unemployment rate, the reality was stark.

“The very sector that should be absorbing unemployment – small, informal, and township-based enterprises – is collapsing and increasingly being taken over by illegal foreigners,” he said.

Beesley condemned the Government of National Unity (GNU) for what he termed its “continued failure” to support South African SMMEs, township entrepreneurs, and informal traders.

“…a failure that has resulted in nearly 300 000 informal-sector workers losing their jobs in the fourth quarter of 2025 alone, along with the dignity and livelihoods they provide,” he said.

Beesley pointed out that the GNU only managed to create 20 000 jobs, which he said highlighted the depth of “government neglect”.

“The slight decline in unemployment for the quarter from 31.9% to 31.4% is not a sign of recovery, as 233 000 South Africans became discouraged and stopped looking for work. This is not a growing economy as boasted by the President in his State of the Nation Address. It is despair,” he explained.

ActionSA pointed out that township entrepreneurs and informal traders faced punitive regulatory frameworks, including licensing, and heavy enforcement powers that discouraged formalisation and growth.

The International Monetary Fund estimates that closing just half of South Africa’s regulatory gap relative to emerging-market peers could lift GDP by 2%, creating much-needed jobs.

“…instead, the GNU continues to allow red tape, policy uncertainty, and sky-high electricity costs to persist, deepening stagnation and entrenching unemployment,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) claimed that the crisis facing the Eastern Cape was not accidental, but rather man-made, reflecting years of “poor governance, lack of accountability, and failed economic leadership”.

The party expressed concerns with the Eastern Cape’s official unemployment rate which now stands at 42.5%.

DA Leader of the Official Opposition in the Eastern Cape Legislature Dr Vicky Knoetze said this was the highest in the country and 5.9 percentage points higher than the same period in 2024.

Knoetze explained that the province was one of only two provinces where unemployment increased year on year.

The report showed 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,” she said.

Knoetze maintained that rising unemployment in the Eastern Cape was inseparable from “poor service delivery, weak leadership, and collapsing infrastructure”.

She noted the loss of major investment opportunities, which she said was a concern particularly in the automotive sector in Kariega, and declining industrial confidence, which she was illustrative of 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,” she explained.