The true cost of the Covid-19 pandemic was writ large in SA’s record-beating unemployment numbers on Tuesday, ratcheting up the pressure for reforms to unlock investment and boost job creation.

The drop in the number of employed people during a year characterised by a hard economic lockdown, limitations on travel and sales bans on alcohol and tobacco products stood at almost 1.4-million year on year, with economists expecting that it will take years to win back these jobs...