ANC welcomes decline in unemployment, says 'far more still needs to be done'

The African National Congress (ANC) has welcomed the decline in unemployment but cautioned that the fight against joblessness in the country was "far from over."

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) announced yesterday that the official unemployment rate dropped by 1.3 percentage points to 31.9% in the third quarter of the year.

READ: Unemployment decreased in 7 provinces between Q2 & Q3 of 2025 - Stats SA

The party has partly credited its recently launched 10-Point Economic Action Plan as a contributor to this positive improvement. The plan, which was unveiled in October, aims to accelerate inclusive growth and job creation.

More than 248,000 jobs were created in the third quarter, pushing the total number of employed South Africans to just over 17.1 million.

This is the highest employment figure recorded since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ANC emphasised that while it welcomed this progress, "far more still needs to be done" to ensure that more South Africans are absorbed into formal employment.

The party has urged government, labour, and business to collaborate, invest in the unemployed, and actively create more opportunities for ordinary citizens.

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