SA’s unemployment rate rises to 30.8% in third quarter

South Africa's unemployment rate has increased by 7.5% to 30.8% in the third quarter of 2020. Statistics South Africa has just released the unemployment figure for the third quarter, announcing that the unemployment rose to 30-point-8 percent from 23-point-3 percent in the second quarter. However, the unemployment rate was artificially low in the second quarter because Statistics South Africa only classifies people as unemployed if they are actively looking for work, which many people were unable to do in the second quarter because of the strict coronavirus lockdown. There were 6-point-5 million people unemployed in the third quarter, compared with 4-point-3 million unemployed people in the second quarter. We spoke to Statistician general Risenga Maluleke.