Cape Town – Amid the gloom of rising joblessness, the City of Cape Town bucked the trend, announcing that it has added 86 000 jobs.
On Tuesday, (13 May 2025), StatsSA released its Quarterly Labour Force survey for Q1 2025, showing that unemployment in South Africa increased by a full 1% – meaning the country with a population of about 60 million lost 291 000 jobs.
However, the same Labour Force survey shows Cape Town has achieved a record employment level of 1,827 million people.
Cape Town also continues to lead South Africa’s cities with the lowest expanded unemployment rate, which offers the most holistic view of employment levels.
“We’re encouraged by employment reaching record levels in Cape Town, and we share the joy of the 86 000 more people who now have jobs compared to last year,” said Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
“Despite the national decline in employment, Cape Town continues to be the place where the prospects of finding a job shine brighter than in any other metro.
“These job numbers show progress towards our vision of building a city of hope for all, and there is still much more to do.
“Our city will invest a South African-record R39,7 billion in infrastructure over three years, which will create an estimated 130 000 construction-related jobs alone, aside from the wider economic benefits.
“Importantly, 75% of this spending will directly benefit lower-income households, ensuring reliable infrastructure and service delivery into the future for Capetonians.”
Mayor Hill-Lewis said, besides record employment levels, Cape Town’s broad labour force participation rate of 74,6% was also at an all-time high for the metro, according to StatsSA data.
“The City continues to run targeted initiatives and campaigns to support our high-growth industries, which is evident in the growth in services, such as call centres over the last decade,” said Alderman James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth.
“More than R6,4 billion in investments and over 15 000 jobs were directly secured in 2024 via the City’s support to 11 industry growth partners across sectors such as business process outsourcing (BPO), technology, clothing and textile manufacturing, and marine manufacturing.
“Looking ahead, my priority will be the rollout of the Productivity Efficiency Programme to assist companies, as well as the Business Retention and Expansion Initiative across the city’s industrial nodes to drive further job-creating economic growth.
“We must maintain and build on this mission for our residents who need it most.”
