South Africa's unemployment is a 'ticking time bomb.' Anger rises with millions jobless
South Africa's official unemployment rate of 33% is the highest in the world, outstripping those of Gaza and the West Bank, Djibouti and Kosovo
JOHANNESBURG — As Lebohang Mphuthi works amid the chaos of boisterous children during a lunch break at the Omar H.S. Ebrahim elementary school in South Africa — the kids are pushing, shoving and spilling food everywhere — she can't help but think how this is as far from her dream job as it can get.
Four years after graduating with a degree in analytical chemistry, the only work the 26-year-old has found is as a student assistant at a public school in Pretoria. Her responsibilities include handing out meals to the children and limiting the chaos as best she can.
Mphuthi's story mirrors those of so many young South African graduates sitting at home jobless or trying to make ends meet doing fairly menial jobs in a country with a 33% official unemployment rate. It's a figure badly at odds with the status of a nation meant to embody the aspirations of Africa and the developing world.
“It is demotivating and frustrating,” Mphuthi said of her battle to make progress. “You ask yourself, if we who studied are struggling to find jobs, then what about these ones who are still at school?”
In a South African context, Mphuthi might be considered lucky with the $215 she earns a month.
Analysts say the official unemployment number doesn't even count those who have given up on finding work and dropped off the grid and that a more accurate assessment would be that nearly 42% of South Africa's working-age population is unemployed.
South Africa has the highest unemployment rate in the world, according to the World Bank, outstripping Gaza and the West Bank, Djibouti and Kosovo.
When it comes to youth
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