Lockdown Adjustment Decision Yet to Come

By: Zilungile Mkhize

Acting minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, says cabinet is waiting on advice about moving the country from adjusted level 3 lockdown.

She has been briefing media on the outcomes of this week’s cabinet meeting.

The country has been on level 3 lockdown since December last year, which was then adjusted by President Cyril Ramaphosa in January.

Ntshavheni says a decision on a move is yet to come.

powered by Advanced iFrame. Get the Pro version on CodeCanyon.

On unemployment, Ntshavheni says Cabinet has expressed concern that the rate at which the South African economy creates jobs remains slower than the rate the country sheds jobs.

This comes after figures released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) in the Q4 Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) revealed that the country’s unemployment rate was at 32.5%.

“Cabinet remains concerned that the rate at which the economy creates jobs remains slower than the rate the country sheds jobs by 701 000 between Quarter 3 and Quarter 4. Although Quarter 4 noted an increase in the unemployment rate, the percentage increase of 1.7% is still lower than the Quarter 3 increase of 9% to the unemployment rate,” says Ntshavheni.

She adds that African and Coloured South Africans, as well as women, remain the most vulnerable groups in the economy of the country.