Despite rising job losses across various industries and sectors, South Africa’s mining industry gained 2 000 jobs in the second quarter of 2025
This is according to Statistic South Africa’s latest Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) for the second quarter of 2025.
Formal employment in the mining sector at the end of Q2 2025 was 468 000 compared to 466 000 at the end of Q1 2025. The quarter-on-quarter employment increase is attributable to the chrome, coal, platinum group metals (PGMs), and gold industries adding jobs.
Statistics South Africa reported that employment declined from 10.59 million in March 2025 to 10.51 million by June 2025. Over the year from June 2024 to June 2025, a total of 229,000 jobs were lost.
During the reporting period, the community services sector experienced the most significant job losses, shedding 53,000 positions. The trade sector followed with a loss of 10,000 jobs, while manufacturing declined by 9,000.
The construction industry also saw a reduction of 7,000 jobs. Both the transport and business services sectors each reported a decrease of 2,000 jobs. In contrast, the mining sector added 2,000 jobs, and the electricity sector recorded an increase of 1,000 jobs.
Additionally, full-time employment dropped by 44,000, falling from 9,457,000 in the first quarter of 2025 to 9,413,000 in the second quarter.
Acting chief economist at the Minerals Council of South Africa, Bongani Motsa said in the short- to medium term, the South African economy’s ability to retain and sustain jobs will depend on the trade negotiations between the US and the SA government.
Motsa said the United States is South Africa’s second-largest trading partner. In the long term, there is a need for policymakers in South Africa to address the structural constraints, including a predictable and investible operating environment.
“Reforms in the network industries are still what we refer to as ‘baseline’ reforms aimed at recouping lost inefficiencies. For example, Eskom has yet to reach the electricity generation levels it achieved in 2019. The same with Transnet. More still needs to be done to attract investment and create additional employment opportunities.”
