Lehohla calls on Eastern Cape to unlock economic potential

Former Statistician- General Dr.

Pali Lehohla says he believes that the Eastern Cape has a huge potential to be an economic powerhouse but is yet to break through from the colonial legacy of being a labour-sending province.

Lehohla was speaking at the Eastern Cape Provincial Economic Stakeholders Session in KuGompo City.

His comments come as the province continues to battle a high rate of unemployment and a stagnant economy.

The recently released Quarterly Labour Force Survey revealed that unemployment in the province increased to 75% from over 44%.

VIDEO | Eastern Cape currently has the highest unemployment rate: Lehohla says urban migration for economic reasons is one of the factors that slow the province’s growth.

“No, well, there are major constraints for Eastern Cape to produce create jobs.

The first one is it’s been an old migration province that supported South Africa’s growth all the time, from the mines, be it gold, the diamonds, be it in politics, be it in manufacturing inland.

So, 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 to say, and when it comes to agriculture, they’ve also lost that opportunity to actually produce food for the people.” VIDEO | Statistics South Africa Statistician General Risenga Maluleke explains the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey: