The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) has renewed its call for President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare youth unemployment a national disaster after South Africa’s official unemployment rate climbed to 33.6% in the second quarter of 2026.
Statistics South Africa’s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, released on Tuesday, showed the number of unemployed people increased by 345,000 to 8.5 million between April and June.
The increase pushed the official unemployment rate up by 0.9 percentage points from 32.7% in the first quarter.
ANCYL secretary-general Tsakani Shiviti said the latest figures highlighted the scale of the challenge facing young people entering the labour market.
The youth league has previously called for youth unemployment to be declared a national disaster, saying the latest figures reinforced the need for urgent government intervention.
“With youth unemployment remaining at crisis levels, we cannot continue to approach the matter through ordinary interventions and business as usual,” Shiviti said.
She called for an urgent response across government, with clear responsibility for creating employment opportunities and bringing young people into the productive economy.
Shiviti said the response should focus on the real economy and the creation of sustainable work, including accelerating industrialisation, and supporting youth-owned businesses and co-operatives.
She said this should also include strengthening links between education and employment and ensuring young people benefited from economic investment and development
She also called on the private sector to play a greater role in tackling unemployment, saying responsibility for addressing the crisis could not rest with the state alone.
“This is not a call for another programme or another commitment. It is a call for the state to treat youth unemployment with the urgency and seriousness that its scale demands,” Shiviti said.
She said the ANCYL would continue to place youth employment and economic emancipation at the centre of its programme.
“We refuse to accept mass youth unemployment as the permanent condition of young people in South Africa. The President must act,” Shiviti said.
Meanwhile, ActionSA MP Alan Beesley said the latest figures showed that 361,000 fewer South Africans were employed at the end of the first half of 2026 than at the start of the year.
Beesley said employment had declined by 345,000 in the first quarter and a further 16,000 in the second quarter.
He said the number of unemployed South Africans had reached 8.5 million, while the expanded unemployment rate, which includes discouraged work-seekers, increased to 43.8%, from 43.0% a year ago.
Beesley said more than 12 million South Africans were now either unemployed or had become discouraged from looking for work.
He also raised concerns about the manufacturing sector, saying it had shed 100,000 jobs over the past year, representing a 6% decline.
Beesley said the decline was particularly concerning because manufacturing provided productive, relatively higher-value employment and supported supply chains involving smaller businesses and workers.
He also criticised the growth of illicit trade, saying legitimate businesses were expected to comply with increasingly complex regulatory and tax requirements while criminal networks continued to exploit weak enforcement.
Beesley pointed to the ongoing Madlanga Commission, saying it was exposing the extent to which corruption and criminality had penetrated parts of the state, while legitimate businesses and their employees paid the price.
He also criticised the Government of National Unity, accusing it of being consumed by “internal battles, political horse-trading and disagreements” while unemployment continued to rise.
ActionSA has renewed its call for Ramaphosa to replace the ministers responsible for employment, economic growth, trade, industry and small business development.
“We made this call following the previous employment figures, and the latest data demonstrates that the government has failed to change course,” Beesley said.
He said the government could not continue while the number of unemployed South Africans increased and the country’s manufacturing base contracted.
“South Africans need a government focused relentlessly on creating jobs, supporting legitimate businesses, attracting investment and restoring the productive capacity of the economy,” Beesley said.
“President Ramaphosa must act. South Africa cannot afford another six months of a government that watches employment disappear while it fights amongst itself.”
