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Hopes Fade as South Africa's Unemployment Hits Record High

Anita Powell

   JOHANNESBURG - Lucky Nonyane is a qualified plumber and building
   inspector with two decades of experience. At one time, he said, he
   earned a good enough living to buy a car and to help out his now-grown
   children.

   But times have changed, and so has his luck. South Africa's
   unemployment rate recently hit 29%, according to the nation's
   statistics bureau.

   Nonyane is one of the unlucky ones. His car now sits at home because he
   can't afford to buy gas, and he takes public transportation each day to
   reach a Johannesburg hardware store where he stands outside with a
   sign, hoping to attract work.

   "I've (gone), like, one month without a job," he said. "And then I have
   to come here, look for a job, go home, and then expecting I'm going to
   find something at the end of the day. But then at the end of the day,
   you can't get a job or something. And then tomorrow again you have to
   spend money again to come here."

   South Africa has long struggled with unemployment, part of a legacy of
   entrenched inequality and a severe skills shortage. But the problem has
   grown more severe, with the jobless rate now climbing to a 16-year
   high.

   Ramaphosa's promise

   During his campaign for re-election this year, President Cyril
   Ramaphosa said jobs were his top priority. But economists say Ramaphosa
   was up against some tough demographics.

   "There was an entry into the job market of almost 600,000 on a
   year-on-year basis," said Azar Jammine, chief economist for the
   Johannesburg-based think tank Econometrix. "And that means that the
   number of people who are leaving school or qualifying from college and
   entering the job market far exceeds the ability of the economy to
   actually accommodate them."

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