Statistics show Cape Town as metro with lowest unemployment rate last quarter despite pandemic
Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey for quarter four of 2020 has revealed that Cape Town has the lowest unemployment rate out of all the metros at 29%.
According to reports issued by the City of Cape Town, the results yielded are due to the City’s strategic and targetted approach to fostering employment and business growth, reliable infrastructure, and the Investment Facilitation Unit.
In November 2020, the City of Cape Town announced that its Strategic Business Partners (SBPs) secured R8.8 billion worth of investment within the last six months. In addition, the initiative created 4 980 jobs and trained 1 366 people between April and September 2020.
James Vos, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management provides insight into the City’s approach to fostering employment.
“‘Early on in the global pandemic, I convened an economic task team to design key interventions needed to help our business eco-system weather the storm. Our Economic Action Plan included relooking at how our SBPs spent the funding provided to ensure that they assisted businesses within the sectors.”
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Within the last quarter of 2020, the City’s Strategic Business Partners secured R230-million worth of investment, created more than 1200 jobs, and trained 630 people for work.
Read also: How to Forge an Inclusive Economic Recovery in Africa
The City’s SBPs include the Craft and Design Institute, Cape Town Fashion Council, Cape Clothing and Textile Cluster, the Cape IT Initiative, Wesgro, CapeBPO, Clotex, Cape Town Tourism, GreenCape, and BlueCape. Most of these partner organizations are linked to industry sectors in which there is impressive potential for growth.
“The City is busy implementing its Economic Action Plan. This shows that where there is a will to get the basics right and to implement needed initiatives, there is a way to get our economy to build back better than before,” concluded Vos.
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