Employment

Decreases in employment were led by the trade industry with 32 000 employees, the business service industry with 23 000 employees, the community service industry with 8 000 employees, the manufacturing industry with 4 000 employees and the transport industry with 1 000 employees.

Decreases in employment in these industries were reportedly due to end of contracts for workers who were employed during the festive season.

However, it’s not all bad news. There were increases in employment reported in the construction industry with 12 000 employees and in the mining industry with 8 000 employees.

Earnings

It therefore comes as no surprise that there was also a quarterly decrease of R19.4 billion or 3.2% in total earnings paid to employees. Total earnings paid to employees amounted to R588 billion in March 2017, down from R607 billion in December 2016.

Decreases in gross earnings were led by the manufacturing industry with R7.1 billion quarter-to-quarter, followed by the trade industry with R6.0 billion, the community services industry with R4.5 billion, the construction industry with R4.4 billion, the transport service industry with R3.1 billion and the electricity industry with R1.2 billion. However, there was a quarter-to-quarter increase in gross earnings for the business services industry with R6.8 billion and the mining industry with R5 million.

The general decrease in gross earnings from December 2016 to March 2017 quarter was mainly due to the payment of bonuses and overtime in December 2016.

Download the complete publication here.

Quarterly employment declines were mainly driven by trade and finance & business service which lost 32 000 jobs (-1,5%) and 23 000 jobs respectively. Additional jobs losses were also observed in community and social services with 8 000 jobs (-0,3%), manufacturing industry with 4 000 jobs (-0,3%) and transport industry with 1000 jobs (-0,2%).

However there were increases in employment observed in the construction industry with 12 000 jobs (2,0%) and mining industry with 8 000 jobs (1,8%).

Gross earnings and average monthly earnings

Total earnings paid to employees declined by R19 billion (-3.2%) to R588 billion in March 2017. However, this is R33 billion higher compared to the same period of last year (March 2016).

The decrease in gross earnings was led by manufacturing industry with R7,1 billion (-10,4%) quarter-to-quarter, followed by trade industry with R6 billion (-6,5%), community services industry with R4,5 billion (-2,4%), construction industry with R4,4 billion (-13,9%); transport industry with R3,1 billion (-8,7%) and electricity industry with R1,2 billion (-14,4%).

However there was a quarter-to-quarter increase in gross earnings from the finance & business services industry with R6,8 billion (4,5%) and mining industry with R5 million (0,02%).

There was a quarter-on-quarter increase of 0,8% in average monthly earnings paid to employees in the formal non-agricultural sector from R18 536 in November 2016 to R18 687 in February 2017. On an annual basis, average monthly earnings paid to employees increased by 8,3% from R17 262 in February 2016 to R18 687 in February 2017.

Issued by Statistics South Africa

For media enquiries contact:

Lesedi Dibakwane

(012) 310 8578

082 805 7088

Lesedid@statssa.gov.za

For technical enquires contact:

Dr Kefiloe Masiteng

Deputy Director-General: Population and Social Statistics

Tel: 012 310 2109

Email: KefiloeM@statssa.gov.za

Mr Peter Buwembo

Chief Director: Labour Statistics

Tel:  012 310 8655

Email: Peterb@statssa.gov.za

According to the data, sourced from the latest Financial statistics of national government report¹, 70% of the R137 billion was taken up by three departments: South African Police Service (42%), Defence (18%) and Correctional Services (10%). All three share one common element: their main function revolves around security.

Another way in which to break down the data is to look at how much each department pays, on average, per civil servant².

Ranked on this basis, the top spot is occupied by the Office of the Chief Justice, which spent R1,3 billion in compensation during 2015/16. With 1 613 employees under its wing, that translates to an annual compensation of R808 249 per person. That is not to suggest, however, that the Office of the Chief Justice is overly generous compared with other departments; rather, it points to a relatively high proportion of senior staff in the department, with the skills and experience to match.

International Relations and Cooperation takes second spot (R735 976), followed by Parliament (R724 328) and Traditional Affairs (R707 825).

If we move down the list, we find National Treasury is ranked 12^th (R599 269) and the Presidency 30^th (R454 524). Stats SA is in 39^th position (R345 409), appearing just below Justice and Constitutional Development and above Correctional Services.

Although the South African Police Service has the largest compensation bill, it is ranked 44^th out of 47 departments in terms of average compensation. Employees earn an average of R298 002 per annum.

Of course, it is important to keep in mind that all the figures above are averages. They give no indication of how compensation spending is distributed across employees within a department. Skill levels, for example, vary significantly across the different departments.

The figures also provide no indication of other factors that might play a role. For example, Higher Education and Training, which has the lowest average salary in the graph above, at R255 065 per annum, had to take on the responsibility from provincial government to compensate staff at Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Community Education and Training (CET) institutions in 2015/16.

For more information on national government finances, download the latest Financial statistics of national government report here.

¹ The Financial statistics of national government report covers financial data from 47 government departments. It provides a measure of the impact of both the economic and functional effect of government spending, gauging the extent of the cost of certain functions (for example, health, environmental protection, defence) against their economic impacts (for example, purchases of goods and services and social benefits).

² Employment figures for each department were sourced from departmental annual reports, available here. Note that these figures do not necessarily correspond with the figures that appear in Estimates of National Expenditure 2017 document published by National Treasury.

Similar thematic stories are available on Stats SA’s website and can be accessed here.

MEDIA RELEASE                                                                                                                                           1 June 2017

                     Quarterly Labour Force Survey – QLFS Q1:2017

The growth in employment by 144 000, was offset by the growth in the number of job-seekers by 433 000 driving the unemployment rate to 27,7% in the first quarter of 2017. This is the highest unemployment rate observed since September 2003.

The growth in employment was observed in all industries except Agriculture, trade and services. The biggest growth was observed in Manufacturing (62 000), Finance & other business services (49 000) and Mining (26 000).  Mining grew for the first time in Q1:2017 after declining for four successive quarters. Furthermore, employment grew in all provinces quarter to quarter except in Eastern Cape and Limpopo.  All Metros registered growth in employment except Nelson Mandela Bay, Mangaung and City of Johannesburg which remained virtually unchanged.

There were approximately 500 000 extra people in employment in Q1:2017 compared to the same period last year. The year-on-year employment growth was driven by manufacturing (145 000), construction (143 000) and finance (152 000).

Of the 433 000 people who joined the ranks of the unemployed, approximately 58% were young people aged 15-34 increasing the youth unemployment rate by 1,6 percentage points to 38,6%. The proportion of those in short term unemployment (i.e those who have been looking for work for less than a year ) increased by 2,4 percentage points to 34,2% a further indication that these were young people who joined the labour force at the beginning of the year.

Unemployment rate remained high among those with education level of less than matric at 33,1% which is 5,4 percentage points higher than the national average. While the unemployment rate among graduates remained at 7,3%.

Unemployment rate increased or remained virtually unchanged in all provinces except Northern Cape. The biggest increase in unemployment rate was observed in Eastern Cape which increased by 3.8 percentage points to 32,2%.

The expanded unemployment which includes those who wanted to work but did not look for work increased by 391 000 people, resulting in an increase of 0,8 of a percentage point in the expanded unemployment rate to 36,4%. This is approximately 9,3 million persons who did not have work but wanted to work in Q1:2017.

Issued by Statistics South Africa

For technical enquiries, contact:

Dr Kefiloe Masiteng

Deputy Director-General: Population and Social Statistics

Tel: 012 310 2109

Email: KefiloeM@statssa.gov.za

Mr Peter Buwembo

Chief Director: Labour Statistics

Tel:  012 310 8655

Email: Peterb@statssa.gov.za

For media enquires contact:

Ms Lesedi Dibakwane

Director: Public and Media Relations

Tel: 012 310 8578

Cell: 082 805 7088

Email: LesediD@statssa.gov.za

Local government is responsible for ensuring that homes, businesses and industries across South Africa have access to vital services, such as electricity, water and refuse removal. Does your municipality have the staff to ensure that you receive these services? The maps below provide a snapshot².

 Total vacancy rate

Up from 13,3% in 2015 to 14,4% in 2016

There were 314 117 funded posts across local government in 2016. Of these, 45 096 were unoccupied, translating to a national vacancy rate of 14,4%³.

In the map below, municipalities with the highest vacancy rates (49% plus) are indicated in yellow. Emfuleni municipality in Gauteng (the Vereeniging area) had the highest rate: 59% of its 5 438 funded posts were unfilled.

As a group, Free State municipalities had the highest percentage of posts that were unoccupied in 2016.

Broken down by department, the highest vacancy rates were recorded by environmental protection departments, road transport and waste water management departments⁴.

When Stats SA asked municipalities what could be the reason for staff vacancies, the following were some of the responses: (a) there was sometimes uncertainty regarding details of the personnel structure within the municipality; (b) in at least one municipality a moratorium was placed on filling of posts; and (c) many municipalities were still using outdated organograms that were due to be updated after the August 2016 local government elections.

Finance and administration

Up from 11,3% in 2015 to 12,9% in 2016

Many municipalities rely too heavily on consultants to prepare their financial statements, according to the Auditor-General (AG). The AG reported that local government forked out R892 million in consultancy costs for financial reporting services in 2014/15, which was a rapid increase from the R267 million recorded in 2010/11⁵.

Ensuring that finance departments are well-staffed is one step towards weaning local government off consultancy services. However, the vacancy rate within municipal finance departments climbed from 11,3% in 2015 to 12,9% in 2016.

 Water and waste water management

Up from 13,3% in 2015 to 15,2% in 2016

Residents in Vryheid resorted to fist fights over water earlier this year⁶. The drought-stricken KwaZulu-Natal town was one of many that bore the brunt of one of South Africa’s worst droughts in recent history, with the municipality resorting to bringing in tankers of water for residents’ usage.

Chronic water shortages remain a concern in many parts of the country, despite relatively good rains over the last few months. Together with the drought, loss of water due to leaking pipes and the poor maintenance of water treatment plants remain constant bug-bears of South Africa’s water infrastructure network⁷.

The municipal departments responsible for waste water management and water reported a combined vacancy rate of 15,2% in 2016, with Rustenburg municipality way on top at 69%.

AbaQulusi municipality, in which Vryheid is located, had 187 water related posts on its books in 2016, 57 (or 30,5%) of which were vacant.

You might be wondering about those local municipalities in the map above that do not have water-related departments. The responsibility for providing water in these areas, mainly in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape, is not carried out by local municipalities but by other organisations, such as water boards or district municipalities.

 Electricity

Down from 20,2% in 2015 to 13,7% in 2016

Rolling power blackouts plagued South Africa in 2008 when demand for electricity outstripped supply. The country has since clawed itself back into a position of stable electricity generation.

The good news is that municipalities have done their part too, increasing staff capacity in their electricity departments. However, despite the fall in the national vacancy rate, empty seats remain a problem for municipalities in North West and Free State in particular.

Road transport

Up from 17,7% in 2015 to 22,3% in 2016

Rabelani Dagada, Johannesburg’s Finance MMC, recently announced that R1,5 billion would be spent during the 2017/18 financial year on maintenance of road infrastructure. R105 million in particular would be spent on repairing broken traffic lights within the city⁸.

Does Johannesburg have the human resources to transform this money into tangible results? Of the 2 508 posts available for road transport in the city, only 131 were unfilled. With 5% of posts vacant in that department, the city is in a better position to ensure that its roads are well maintained.

Other municipalities are not so lucky. Of the 24 655 road transport posts funded nationally in 2016, 5 487 (22,3%) were vacant. Almost half of available posts in road infrastructure departments were unfilled in Free State, with high vacancy rates recorded for Mangaung (74%) and Masilonyana (69%).

To wrap up: where should we focus our efforts then?

Staff vacancies within South Africa’s local municipalities increased between 2015 and 2016, with high vacancies recorded by Free State municipalities. Emfuleni (which includes Vereeniging), Msunduzi (which includes Pietermaritzburg) and Rustenburg were the municipalities with the highest vacancy rates overall. Municipal departments that were struggling the most to fill posts included environmental protection, road transport and water waste management departments.

¹ The national data used in this article were sourced from Table 2.1 and Table 2.2 in the Non-financial Census of Municipalities report, available for download here. Provincial and municipal data are available in Table 2.1 and Table 2.2 in an Excel file available on the same page.

² The maps display local and metropolitan municipalities while data for district municipalities are included in the provincial graphs. Note that the data were collected before the local government elections of August 2016 and thus represent the earlier local government structure consisting of 278 municipalities.

³ Vacancy rate, for the purposes of the NFCM, is the percentage of funded posts that are currently unfilled.

⁴ All departmental figures exclude managerial posts.

⁵ AG Report. Section 5.3. Download the document here. View the media release here.

⁶ http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2017/01/23/Battle-for-water-gets-ugly-in-Vryheid-as-locals-come-to-blows

⁷ http://www.infrastructurene.ws/2016/05/10/sas-waste-water-treatment-works-in-bad-shape/

⁸ http://ewn.co.za/2017/05/24/joburg-finance-mmc-prioritises-development-of-road-network

Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the first quarter (Q1) of 2017

The Statistician-General of South Africa, Dr Pali Lehohla, will release the results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the first quarter (Q1) of 2017 at a media briefing to be held on Thursday, 01 June 2017.

The media briefing will be held as follows:

Date:  Thursday, 01 June 2017

Lock-up: 12H00

Embargoed until: 12H30

Venue:  Tshedimosetso House, Cnr Francis Baard & Festival streets, Hatfield, Pretoria

(NB! There will be a video link to Imbizo Media Centre, 120 Plein Street, Parliament, Cape Town)

RSVP:

Felicia Sithole Tel: (012) 339 2401 Cell: 0764300693 E-mail Felicias@statssa.gov.za

Madimetja Mashishi Tel: 012 337 6456 Cell: 073 821 5994 E-mail: MadimetjaMa@statssa.gov.za

For media enquiries contact:

Ms Lesedi Dibakwane

Tel: (012) 310 8578

Cell: 082 805 7088

lesedid@statssa.gov.za

Issued by Statistics South Africa

Media Invite                                                                                                                                                                           26 May 2017

Statistician-General releases the results of the Non-financial census of municipalities for 2016

The Statistician-General of South Africa, Dr Pali Lehohla, will release the Non-financial census of municipalities, 2016 (NFCM) statistical release at a media briefing to be held on Wednesday, 31 May 2017. The NFCM measures selected aspects of service delivery, including water, electricity, solid waste management, sewerage and sanitation, amongst others.

This statistical release also presents data on the number of households using the bucket toilet system and those receiving free basic services (such as electricity, water, etc.). It also features statistics on indigents and employment in municipalities across South Africa.

The media briefing will be held as follows:

Date    :    Wednesday, 31 May 2017

Time   :    12:00-13:00

Venue:  Tshedimosetso House, Cnr Francis Baard & Festival streets, Hatfield, Pretoria.

(NB! There will be a video link to Imbizo Media Centre, 120 Plein Street, Parliament, Cape Town.)

RSVP:

Madimetja Mashishi Tel: 012 337 6456 Cell: 073 821 5994 Email: MadimetjaMa@statssa.gov.za

Felicia Sithole Tel: (012) 339 2401Cell: 076 430 0693Email: felicias@statssa.gov.za

For media enquiries contact:

Lesedi Dibakwane

Tel: 012 310 8578

Cell: 082 805 7088

Email: LesediD@statssa.gov.za

Issued by Statistics South Africa

Postponement of the QLFS Q1:2017 report

The Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) Q1:2017 scheduled to be released on Tuesday, 9 May 2017 has been postponed to the 1st June 2017.  The processing of data has taken longer than anticipated. Statistics South Africa would like to apologise for the inconveniences caused.

Issued by Statistics South Africa

For media enquires

Ms Lesedi Dibakwane

Director: Media and Public Relations

Tel: 012 310 8578

Cell: 082 805 7088

Email: lesedid@statssa.gov.za

The electricity industry remained unchanged.

However there were decreases in the following industries: community services

(-81 000 or -3,0%), construction (-11 000 or -1,8%), mining and quarrying (-3 000 or -0,7%) and transport (-1 000 or -0,2%).

Employment increased by 90 000 or 0,9% year-on-year between December 2015 and December 2016. These increases were reported by: trade (57 000 or 2,8%), business services (16 000 or 0,7%), community services (16 000 or 0,6%), construction (14 000 or 2,4%) and manufacturing (6 000 or 0,5%).

The electricity industry remained unchanged.

The following industries reported annual decreases: transport (-15 000 or -3,2%) and  mining and quarrying (-4 000 or -0,9%).

 Gross earnings and average monthly earnings

Gross earnings paid to employees increased by R35 560 million (6,2%) from R571 686 million in September 2016 to R607 246 million in December 2016. The increase was mainly due to increases in trade, business services, community services, manufacturing, transport, mining and quarrying, and construction industries.

There was a decrease reported by the electricity industry.

Year-on-year, gross earnings increased by R37 779 million (6,6%).

There was a quarter-on-quarter increase of 2,6% in average monthly earnings paid to employees in the formal non-agricultural sector from R18 035 in August 2016 to R18 502 in November 2016.

Download complete publication here

QUARTERLY EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS, Q4 2016

The current QES survey results are based on a sample drawn from the 2016 Business Sampling Frame (BSF) and therefore the previous trend has been revised to reflect the current growth in the business register.

Employment for the quarter ending December 2016

Employment increased by 18 000 quarter-to-quarter, from 9 672 000 in September 2016 to
9 690 000 in December 2016. This was largely due to increases in the following industries: trade (68 000 or 3,3%), business services (33 000 or 1,6%) and manufacturing (13 000 or 1,1%).

However there were decreases in the following industries: community services (-81 000
or -3,0%), construction (-11 000 or -1,8%), mining and quarrying (-3 000 or -0,7%) and transport (-1 000 or -0,2%). Mining continued to lose jobs after remaining unchanged in the previous two quarters.

Compared to the same period last year, employment increased by 90 000 or 0,9% year-on-year between December 2015 and December 2016. These increases were reported by: trade (57 000 or 2,8%), business services (16 000 or 0,7%) , community services (16 000 or 0,6%), construction (14 000 or 2,4%) and manufacturing (6 000 or 0,5%).

The following industries reported annual decreases: transport (-15 000 or -3,2%) and  mining and quarrying (-4 000 or -0,9%).

Gross earnings and average monthly earnings

Gross earnings paid to employees increased by R35 560 million (6,2%) from R571 686 million in September 2016 to R607 246 million in December 2016. The increase was mainly due to increases in trade, business services, community services, manufacturing, transport, mining and quarrying, and construction industries.

Compared to the same period last year, gross earnings increased by R37 779 million (6,6%) year-on-year.

The survey results show that quarter-to-quarter, average monthly earnings paid to employees increased by 2,6% to R18 502 in November 2016. This is an increase of 6,8% compared to the same period of the previous year.

Issued by Statistics South Africa

For technical enquires contact:

Dr Kefiloe Masiteng

Deputy Director-General: Population and Social Statistics

Tel: 012 310 2109

Email: KefiloeM@statssa.gov.za

Mr Peter Buwembo

Chief Director: Labour Statistics

Tel:  012 310 8655

Email: Peterb@statssa.gov.za

For media enquiries contact:

Trevor Oosterwyk

Head of Communications

Tel: 012 310 4687

Cell: 082 908 9104

Email: TrevorO@statssa.gov.za