South Africa's jobless count hit 8.6 million. The same day, ministers got a R98,008 raise

South Africa's official jobless count rose by 97,000 to 8.6 million in the third quarter, Statistics South Africa said on Nov. 10. The same day, President Cyril Ramaphosa approved a 3.5% raise for ministers and members of Parliament. For a cabinet minister, that is R98,008 more a year, taking pay to R2,898,233. The raise is below inflation, but unions call it indefensible, and the backlash is still running on X.

The official unemployment rate rose to 33.7% from 33.6%, according to the Stats SA media release. The Presidency's statement on the raises, backdated to April 1, came out less than two hours later. On Wednesday, the commission that recommends those salaries opened a two-day wage bill conference in Durban.

The jobs numbers#

The economy did add jobs. It just did not add them fast enough. Employment rose by 101,000 to 16.8 million. But the labor force grew by 198,000, so the number of jobless people rose too.

Source: Stats SA, QLFS for Q3 2026. The expanded rate, which Stats SA calls LU3, adds people who want work but have stopped looking. Stats SA also said on X that the rate for people aged 15 to 24 was 63.6%.

There was good news inside the data. Formal sector jobs rose by 268,000. Finance added 111,000 jobs, manufacturing 33,000 and mining 31,000. The losses came in private households (68,000), farming (34,000) and construction (8,000).

That is Stats SA's own post of the headline number. It drew far less attention than the news outlets that shared it. eNCA's breaking-news post on the jobless rate, which pointed to the 70,000 more discouraged job seekers, passed 140,000 views.

What politicians will now earn#

The raises are 3.5% for the national executive, MPs, premiers and provincial legislators. Judges, magistrates and traditional leaders get 4%. All are backdated to April 1, 2026. The chart shows the yearly raise in rand for selected offices.

Source: Moneyweb. An ordinary MP now earns about R114,435 a month, and a minister about R241,519, IOL calculated.

The Presidency announced the decision on X. Its post has drawn more than 180,000 views and over 260 replies.

The raise trails inflation#

There is a fair defense of the decision, and the numbers back part of it. South Africa's consumer prices rose 4.5% in the year to September, Stats SA reported. A 3.5% raise is a small cut in real terms. It is also smaller than last year's, when politicians got 3.8% and judges 4.1%.

The Presidency said Ramaphosa weighed "serious economic challenges facing the country." It said the independent commission looked at what the state can afford, past and future inflation, wage deals and average pay rises. Salaries for these offices are set this way under section 219 of the Constitution.

Critics say the timing matters more than the percentage. The South African Federation of Trade Unions rejected the 3.5% raise but accepted the 4% for judges, The Citizen reported. "This decision is indefensible," said general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi. He pointed to 13.1 million people who were unemployed or in the potential labor force in the second quarter. SAFTU called on Ramaphosa and Parliament to reverse the increase.

The backlash online#

On X, the anger was blunt. Born Again, a commentary account with about 12,800 followers, called it "another day, another salary increase for those at the top while millions of South Africans struggle to survive." The post drew more than 300 likes and 150 reposts.

The fight is not new. When last year's raises came through in January, a Reddit thread on r/southafrica about the 3.8% and 4.1% increases drew the same complaint. Semafor reported Wednesday that more than four in five jobseekers have been out of work for at least a year, and that anger over jobs is spilling into politics and the migration debate.

What comes next#

The pay commission's wage bill conference runs in Durban on Nov. 11 and 12. One session on Wednesday was a research briefing titled "The Price of Public Office," the Presidency posted. Unions want the 3.5% reversed, but nothing in the Presidency's statement points to a rethink.

For US readers, the contrast is sharp. American layoffs recently matched a 57-year low. In South Africa, one in three people who want work and are looking cannot find it. Even with a below-inflation raise, an ordinary MP's yearly pay rise of R46,438 is a sore point in that economy.