Politicians take credit for the good news they're not responsible for, but don't take blame when they are.
So it is that periodically the DA takes credit for the Western Cape having a lower unemployment rate than SA as a whole https://www.da.org.za/2024/05/western-cape-and-cape-town-have-the-best-jobs-and-service-delivery-record-in-south-africa-statssa.
Misinterpreting the job data, they take credit for the number of employed persons that increased between their arbitrary reference periods (I suspect cherry picking when the data is favourable). They claim they are responsible for "new jobs" being "created" (https://www.gov.za/news/media-statements/western-cape-stats-sa-quarterly-labour-force-survey-30-oct-2018) and the province's or Cape Town's "upward economic trajectory" and so on.
These claims are unprovable, specious and even false. At best it's a chronic misunderstanding of how the economy works, which SA's politicians don't understand. At worst a lie the DA are perpetrating on the public.
I must correct them when they say these things. Politicians and government don't "create" jobs but the conditions for economic growth and a conducive social environment. But these have not existed in SA for almost 30 years.
In his op-ed "Now is the time for the Western Cape to step up" in Daily Maverick June 17, Western Cape premier Alan Winde starts by saying the WC is not inseparable from SA. He's correct. SA is a unitary state where policy and laws are developed and implemented in Parliament and by (ANC) government. Provinces have little to no jurisdiction over these. He wrote:
"We've consistently maintained the lowest unemployment rate in the country – currently 19.6%. In the first quarter of 2025, the Western Cape added 121,000 jobs year-on-year, which is four times the number created by Gauteng [and so on, pointless political rivalry].
"It was an honour to see our government’s Growth for Jobs Strategy recognised by the Cape Chamber of Commerce this month. What makes this especially meaningful is that the recognition came from organised business, the very community we’re working to enable to create more jobs. When the businesses we want to help tell us we’re on the right track, it’s a sign that we’re getting something right. But four out of five people employed is not good enough – that is why I have made economic growth and job creation the number-one priority of my government for this term."
Growth and job creation are always politicians' priorities so Winde saying it's the primary ones for "this term" is disingenuous. Note in this piece, as with similar DA boasts, is the "we" (themselves and DA): we're creating, we're maintaining - "we" and not the province's citizens, residents and businesses who bring their human and capital resources to make the province and city what they are.
So for at least 25 years, WC, as other provinces, are hostage to the ANC's mistakes, neglect, incompetence and corruption that's resulted in SA being among the worst performing economies (average five-year growth rate 0.43% - https://gfmag.com/data/countries-lowest-gdp-growth/) and having the highest unemployment rate in the world. The latter is outstanding given it beats failed states like Djibouti.
So when Winde states, as his colleagues have in the past including Geordin Hill-Lewis as then DA finance spokesman did in Parliament, that the WC's lower than national unemployment rate is solely due to them as governing political party, the alt-facts alarm ought to ring. But oddly, even business media ignores it.
Post-1994 at least, the WC has always had a lower unemployment rate. (Over time the DA has interchangeably used the official and expanded rates to support their assertions. By convention, I'll use the official rate although with the qualification the expanded rate is SA's real, tragic unemployment situation). I use two periods - 1995 and 2008 - when the ANC ran WC.
SA's 1995 unemployment rate was 17% (StatsSA: 1995 October Household Survey) and 22% in 2008 (StatsSA QLS 2008). The WC's rates were 13% and 17% respectively.
StatsSA Selected Findings of the 1995 October Household Survey gives two possible reasons why WC's unemployment rate is lower than the rest of the country.
"Unemployment is lower in Western Cape than in the rest of the country. In South Africa as a whole, 17% are unemployed using the strict definition, and 29% using the expanded. This may indicate there are more work opportunities than elsewhere in the country. It may also indicate that transport to a place of job seeking is more accessible and cheaper in Western Cape than it is in other provinces, especially those with a greater proportion of population living in non-urban areas."
The reductive "more work opportunities" means more business activity and hirings, which leads to higher growth relative to SA. Similar to a better employment rate, post-1994 WC has had marginally better economic growth (2014-2023 annual average 0.1% above SA's; WC Treasury 2024) including during the ANC's at times chaotic administration until 2009. WC's unemployment did not grow as fast a pace as the rest of the country - a still exorbitant 20%, and contrary to Winde's implication, nothing to be proud of. But this is probably due to work being more easily available than the rest of the country.
Agriculture and fishing, manufacturing including food, tourism and finance are and have been major contributors to WC's economy. These predate the DA administration and are immune to whichever party runs the province and city. Wesgro - WC's business development agency - too was established long before the DA took power in 2006 (city) and 2009. It's hubris to suggest, as Winde and DA do, that somehow they, and only they, are responsible for the province's and city's modest achievements relative to the country and other provinces (Gauteng is still the economic capital though).
Another factor for WC's slightly better growth can be inferred indirectly from its racial demographics. StatsSA unemployment data show more blacks are unemployed than other races. Whites are the most employable because they are better educated, or employers perceive them to be better educated, than other races. Unlike other provinces, blacks are not in the majority in WC.
Provinces have only two direct line functions - health and education. I'll take Winde's word for it these departments are being well managed. They have challenges, though. So the other achievements and responsibilities he mentions like energy and safety are the City of Cape Town's. (Provinces have oversight and a last resort governing role should a municipality fail in its duties, which in Cape Town's case is improbable.) As I said at the start, politicians take credit for other's work.
By SA's very low standards and notwithstanding frequent political debacles in Council (eg the speaker evicting a member for using the word "migrant"), the Western Cape and Cape Town are well run compared to other regions. It has political stability in part due to the DA having electoral majorities. The DA is not incompetent and corrupt, at least as other governing parties are.
But it's a long stretch to say, as Winde suggests, that either WC or Cape Town administrations are irreproachable. There are problems and they often don't use their power for the common good, Cape Town's budget furore a good example of DA overeach, which regularly happens.
I'm not sure what Winde's point was in submitting the advertorial making their usual questionable claims about their purported successes, jobs particularly. Why now? And why in the media when he has the WCG's and party platforms to do it on.
It can only be that Election 2026 campaigning has already started. His op-ed, and those like it, should be paid-for.
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