Isobel Frye, the director at the Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute; country director at International Labour Organisation South Africa, Dr Joni Musabayana; Dr Chifipa Mhango, chief economist at The Don Consulting Group; former statistician-general, Dr Pali Lehohla; and SACP spokerperson, Dr Alex Mashilo join Newzroom Afrika to discuss the newly released Statistics on the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS).

"The poverty that people are experiencing are causing desperation, depression and anxiety," Frye adds that we need to ensure that income distributed creates opportunities.

Jobs will not come from the top, they need to be created from the bottom up.

As we approach the next general elections we need to ensure that the population knows that they have a say, they have a way to shape the future. A universal basic income needs to be implemented in the new year, the stats are speaking for themselves.

"We need people to know that they are not forgotten, we need to give our people hope" Frye concludes

With the official unemployment rate sitting at 34,9% and the expanded definition at 46,6%, what sectors should we be focusing on as a country, to create employment opportunities and not find ourselves next year this time, looking at a gloomier picture?

Source: Newzroom Afrika