Speaking at the Eastern Cape Provincial Economic Stakeholders Session in KuGompo City,
General Dr. Pali Lehohla, Former Statistician, stated that he believed the Eastern Cape has significant potential to turn into an economic powerhouse. However it is yet to break through from the colonial legacy of being a labour-sending province.
His statement corresponds with the province’s continuous battle with a high rate of unemployment and a stagnant economy. The Quarterly Labour Force Survey released recently, showed that unemployment rate in the province increased to 47.5% from over 44%.
Lehohla said that urban migration for economic reasons is one of the factors that slow the province’s growth.
“There are major constraints for the Eastern Cape to create jobs. The first one is that it’s been an old migration province that supported South Africa’s growth all the time. From mines – be it gold, diamonds, be it in the politics, be it in manufacturing inland. Most of the time it has exported its own people from the province outward. So, it has not been able to retain any value in the Eastern Cape, or when it comes to agriculture, they have also lost that opportunity to produce food for people,” he explained.
