SA’s unemployment is showing no sign of abating, with the jobless rate climbing to a new record despite a sharp rebound in economic activity in 2021 after the easing of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

Coming just a few days after President Cyril Ramaphosa hosted an investment conference in which he was able to say he was within touching distance of a R1.2-trillion target announced four years ago, Stats SA data on Tuesday gave a dose of realism, highlighting the need for the government to deal with constraints such as Eskom power cuts and Transnet’s floundering rail network...