Gwede Mantashe Says Citizens Must Look for Work and Not Wait for Government, SA Furious With Comment

• Gwede Mantashe urged South Africans to be more proactive and look for jobs instead of waiting for the government
• The Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources made the comments as the country's unemployment rate sits at 31.9%
• South Africans weighed in on Mantashe's comments, expressing frustration with him for seemingly blaming citizens

Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He spent 10 years working for the Northern Natal Courier before transitioning to online journalism.

Gwede Mantashe has sparked outrage online by calling on South Africans to be more proactive and look for work.

Mantashe, the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, made the comments during an interview with SABC News on 4 January 2025.

His comments come as the country’s unemployment rate sits at 31.9% as per the third quarter (Q3) of 2025, one of the highest in the world.

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What did Mantashe say?

During an interview about the upcoming January 8 celebrations of the African National Congress (ANC), Mantashe touched on unemployment, but said South Africans should not wait for the government to give them jobs.

The minister explained that he was over 70 and never had a government look for a job for him.

“Today, because there is a progressive government, people expect that government to go and give them jobs. They don’t look for jobs. And that must change,” he said.

He also encouraged South Africans to seek out adverts for jobs and apply, saying that they would not be employed by the advert alone.

Unemployment rate drops from 33.2%

While the unemployment rate is still extremely high, it did drop in the third quarter of 2025. The previous rate was 33.2% in the second quarter of 2025.

While this sparked some hope, the ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) is still concerned about the performance of the economy in terms of job creation.

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During a media briefing in November 2025, ANC NEC member Zuko Godlimpi said the numbers were still not at the level required for South Africa to get out of the current unemployment crisis.

South Africans annoyed with Mantashe’s statement

Social media users weighed in on Mantashe’s statement, with many expressing frustrations that he blamed South Africans for not doing more.

@AfterEarth asked:

“Look for work where?”

@Mmasekgoba stated:

“People are forced to compete with illegal immigrants who are willing to work for slave wages. So being proactive can only go so far.”

@jarryd_za noted:

“I’m not saying that Mantashe is wrong, but it’s so easy for a career politician who hasn't actually worked a real job for the last 30 years to make statements like this.”

@Mzansipresser said:

“True. Government ministers have no time to help the citizens, because they are busy helping themselves.”

@Teboho_Mpholo asked:

“He can’t be serious. Does he think we’ve been sitting back just waiting for his useless government this whole time?”

@StHonorable added:

“Who said people are not looking for jobs? They must stop R350 and use that money to create real opportunities.”

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@k_diedricks stated:

“No, Minister. You are delusional. To look for work, you need a thriving economy, which the government is not enabling. Also, if we spend the vast taxes we collect correctly and eliminate corruption, which prevents such spending, we will be able to create jobs.”

South Africa lost almost 100,000 jobs in one year

Briefly News reported that more than 80,000 South Africans lost their jobs between March 2024 and 2025, according to Statistics South Africa.

StatsSA released its Quarterly Employment Statistics, which painted a bleak picture of the extent of job losses.

Sectors including the services and mining sectors were the hardest hit by the job losses, and South Africans were reeling.

Source: Briefly News