Unemployment in the Department of Employment and Labour – Spending Review Report

South Africa’s narrow definition of the unemployment in the second quarter of 2020 was 23.3 per cent1. This figure includes the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market in an economy which has suffered millions of job losses since the beginning of the pandemic. It is therefore surprising against the background of high unemployment in the country that the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL), the custodian of facilitating job creation in the labour market, has a high number of vacant and funded posts. Over the past six years, spending on Compensation of Employees (CoE) remains the largest and most consistent area of underspending.