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File | Unemployment graphic.
Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba says the province is recording encouraging progress in the fight against poverty and unemployment.
She was speaking during the State of the Nation Address (SONA) debate under way in Parliament.
Ramathuba points to declining poverty levels and falling unemployment figures.
She says Limpopo is leading nationally in poverty reduction.
“Let me remind you of the latest income and expenditure survey, which showed that poverty in Limpopo is declining from 66% to 47.6%, a leading reduction nationally. Just yesterday, the 2025 Quarter 4 Labour Force Survey was released, and it shows that Limpopo unemployment rate has further declined to 28.2%, following a significant drop from the 35% to 29.8% in Quarter 3 of 2025,” says Ramathuba.
Meanwhile, ANC MP Fasiha Hassan has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to treat youth unemployment as a national emergency.
She was also speaking during the SONA debate.
Hassan says government must move beyond speeches to decisive action.
She demands binding targets, timelines and consequences.
“And so, here is the demand from us as young people: treat youth unemployment like a national emergency, not with speeches but with state power, with a wartime approach that mobilizes every single department, every single public entity, municipality and every private company in this country, with targets, timelines and consequences. We are done with an economy of extraction. There can be no license without beneficiation, no tenders without youth jobs and no incentives without training and decent work. And to the young people who are watching, your struggle is the struggle of our republic. Yes, we are not asking for charity. We are demanding justice,” says Hassan.
Parliament debates SONA 2026:
