Economy

Eastern Cape Has the Highest Unemployment Rate in South Africa, Netizens Disappointed

Published 18 Feb 2026 at 8:29 AM

by Tebogo Mokwena

4 min read

Statistics have revealed that the Eastern Cape province has the most unemployed people in the country, despite the decrease in unemployment nationally
Almost half of the province’s population is without work, as the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) was released
South Africans, incensed, called on the government to be held accountable for the overwhelming number of people who aren’t employed in the province

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Tebogo Mokwena, Briefly News’ Deputy Head of Current Affairs, contributed coverage of international and local social issues, including health, corruption, education, unemployment, labour, service delivery protests, and immigration in South Africa, during his seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.

The Eastern Cape province struggles to deal with unemployment as almost half of the population is without jobs — More than 40% of the Eastern Cape's population is unemployed. Image: Nigel Jared
Source: Getty Images

EASTERN CAPE — South Africans slammed the government for the high unemployment rate in the Eastern Cape. This was after Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) revealed on 17 February 2026 that the unemployment rate in the province stands at 42.5%.

StatsSA published the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) on 17 February, highlighting a slight drop in the unemployment rate in the country. Despite this, Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke announced during the press briefing that the Eastern Cape has the highest unemployment rate in the country, followed by the Free State (37.2%) and the North West at 35.1%. The Western Cape has the lowest unemployment rate at 18.1%, followed by the Northern Cape at 27.1%.

Eastern Cape’s unemployment rate is a problem

Maluleke pointed out that the stark divide between rural and urban provinces remains evident and added that the legacy of apartheid spatial arrangements continues to exert an effect in labour markets in the country. She observed that rural provinces are geographically isolated from the country’s major economic hubs and are burdened by limited industrial diversification.

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Maluleke observed that Limpopo’s unemployment rate, which has historically been below the national average, is slowly increasing and pointed out that the North West, Mpumalanga, and the Northern Cape recorded the highest decreases in unemployment.

Hundreds of unemployed youth in the country line up every day to seek respite from joblessness — South Africa's youth wrestles with depressing unemployment. Image: Phill Magakoe/ AFP via Getty Images
Source: Getty Images

Unemployment in South Africa

South Africa continues to grapple with unemployment, having the highest unemployment rate in the world, according to Trading Economics. This is despite the unemployment rate dropping to 31.4% in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to 31.9% in the previous quarter. StatsSA revealed that 44,000 more people were employed in the previous quarter, bringing the number of employed persons to 17.1 million.

South Africans are angry

Some netizens angrily roasted President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent statements at the State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Neville Brits was sarcastic:

“Don’t panic. The president said it’s coming down.”

Fernando Bandeira added:

“But Cyril believes that deploying the military will help to reduce crime.”

Carl Stix Coertzen joked:

“So it seems that all the name changes in the Eastern Cape didn’t create jobs.”

Mark van der Vyver took jabs at the voters in the province.

“This is the supposed home of the ANC (African National Congress).”

Mcebo Mashinga Dlamini made a suggestion.

“Instead of being feminists and misandrists, they should be showing us how their empowerment works. This is their time to shine.”

Heineken to cut 6,000 jobs over 2 years

In a related article, Briefly News reported that Heineken announced that it would cut 6,000 jobs globally over the next two years. Concerns were raised about how South Africans would be affected by the job cuts.