In the first quarter of 2026, South Africa’s unemployment rate rose to 32.7% from 31.4% in Q4 of 2025, according to data from Statistics South Africa.

Of South Africa’s nine provinces, the Eastern Cape has the highest unemployment rate at 44.6%, followed by the Free State at 37.8%. The Western Cape, on the other hand, has the lowest unemployment rate of all the provinces at 19.6%. Gauteng, South Africa’s economic engine, has an unemployment rate of 34.1%. KwaZulu-Natal was the only province where employment grew, and the unemployment rate decreased to 31.2% from 32.3% in Q4 of 2025.

The rise in unemployment is “another early warning signal of the emerging shock that the global energy crisis is beginning to have on the economy and jobs,” explains Professor Raymond Parsons from the North West University Business School. Parsons added that the longer the US and Israel’s war with Iran continued, the greater the risks to South Africa’s growth and employment.