IN MY VIEW | How to unlock the Eastern Cape’s immense potential

Our province continues to work tirelessly to stimulate economic growth to fight against poverty and inequality. We must confront the sobering reality reflected in the latest quarterly Labour Force Survey results showing an increase in unemployment, when we lost 32,000 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2025. Even though we lost these jobs, the trade sector added 23,000 jobs as activity picked up towards year-end, utilities grew by 6,000 jobs, a notable rise given its small size, and private households added about 1,000 jobs.

Despite these difficult statistics, we remain steadfast in our commitment to reverse this trend. The Eastern Cape has immense potential and together we must unlock it. We are creating pathways to jobs for our people focusing on skills transfer, entrepreneurship, integrating digital skills, the green economy and artisan training.

As we speak, about 14,696 people of the Eastern Cape are benefiting from the Labour Activation Programme (LAP) of the department of employment and labour. We are pushing to onboard 8,300 more people in the LAP programme in 2026. In addition, 28,479 young people are participating in the Basic Education Employment Initiative. Our priority is to ensure that every infrastructure project in the Eastern Cape continues to create jobs and business opportunities for locals.