Citizen Online
Friday, November 24, 2006
JOHANNESBURG - While employment was still growing in South Africa, it was not as strong as the 30 000 jobs being created per month last year, according to a report released on Thursday.
"No matter which data set you look at, the fact is that employment is still growing in South Africa... but we are off target for government's goal of halving unemployment by 2014," said economist for stockbroking firm T-Sec, Mike Schussler.
He was speaking at the release of the 4th annual SA employment report commissioned by trade union UASA.
About one in six South Africans have created their own jobs, or one in four white males. Black females came second in the self-employed category but this was largely in the informal sector.
In a separate survey of South Africa's porous borders, the report revealed that in 2005 South Africa deported 209 988 illegal immigrants.
If this represented 20 percent of the total number of illegal immigrants, there were almost 10 million of them in the country, said Schussler.
South Africa was the most xenophobic country out of Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland. A quarter of South Africa's population would "just plain prohibit" anybody from entering the country, said Schussler quoting a recent Markinor survey. - Sapa