The South African Communist Party says the impact of the coronavirus pandemic has brought to the fore the fault-lines in society.
The SACP Central Committee Plenary is discussing the state of the developing political situation in the country. The party’s general-secretary, Blade Nzimande, was speaking in a virtual briefing.
“The impact of the pandemic and the necessary lockdown measures exposed all the existing fault-lines in our society – crowded townships, informal settlements without basic sanitation and water, weak public transport that exposes millions to unsafe commutes, households that are experiencing food insecurity and a public healthcare system that has been chronically underfunded.”
SA unemployment rate increased to 30.1%
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) announced that the official unemployment rate has increased by 1.0 percentage point to 30.1% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.
Stats SA data further indicates that the number of employed persons decreased by 38 000 to 16. 4 million, while the number of unemployed persons increased by 344 000 to 7 million in the first quarter of this year, compared to the fourth quarter last year.
The largest employment decreases were observed in the formal sector followed by the agricultural sector.
Employment in the informal sector and private households increased by 3 000 and 30 000 respectively.
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