Trade unions have criticised the latest GDP figures released by Statistics South Africa, arguing that modest economic growth remains insufficient to tackle unemployment and broader structural challenges.
South Africa’s economy expanded by 0.5% in the first quarter of the year between January and March, with finance, agriculture, trade and transport emerging as the strongest contributors to growth.
However, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) said the current pace of growth is far below what is needed to meaningfully reduce the country’s persistently high unemployment levels.
COSATU spokesperson Matthew Parks warned that global developments could place additional pressure on South Africa’s fragile recovery.
“Given the devastating war unleashed in the Persian Gulf, the source of 20% of the world’s oil supplies, it is critical that government put in place an economic and social relief package to help shield the working class and the economy from the steep hikes in international oil and domestic fuel prices, and thus inflation and the inevitable global economic slowdown,” Parks said.
“It has taken South Africa three years to overcome the previous spillover from the war in Ukraine,” he added.
Meanwhile, the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) said the country is facing a worsening crisis marked by deindustrialisation, mass unemployment, factory closures and growing dependence on imported manufactured goods.
SAFTU spokesperson Asive Dyani argued that economic growth driven by finance and real estate does little to improve conditions for ordinary workers.
“It is an economy that serves the rich. Every factory closure means a community destroyed. Every steel plant shut down means a generation of artisans who will never work again,” Dyani said.
“The government must choose: manufacturing and decent jobs, or finance and mass unemployment.”
The latest GDP data has renewed debate over the type of economic growth South Africa needs and whether current gains are translating into sustainable job creation and long-term economic resilience.
VOC News
Photo: Pexles
