Job prospects for 2011 EC Matriculants?

Eastern Cape is in the bottom of the Class of 2011. What will happen to those who did not make it? Will they all return to school? This is unlikely, especially, for a significant number of those who failed more than three subjects.

The same question may be asked even to those that managed to obtain a pass. A limited number of them will manage to enter the tertiary institutions, and the rest will stay at home hoping to find some jobs.


The job prospects of these two groups of students are not looking bright given the socio-economic status of the province. This province is among those with the highest unemployment rate. According to Statistic South Africa, as per the strict definition of unemployment during the third quarter of 2011, Eastern Cape recorded about 27% unemployment rate. The expanded definition of unemployment would put the figure to more than 40%, most definitely! During the third quarter of 2011 the Eastern Cape lost 11000 jobs.

This calls for some kind of intervention from the national government to bail out this province. One important thing that the government can do is to provide incentives to labour-intensive businesses that are doing business in this province. An example of such incentive is to reduce taxation for such businesses. Such a move would attract other businesses from some affluent parts of the country such as Gauteng and Western Cape to the Eastern Cape. This may also make Eastern Cape an attractive destination for potential foreign fixed investors.