How we read the latest Stats SA Labour Force Survey, the ILO and South African government data, and how Big Five Group answers with Feed · Educate · Empower: owners, not only jobs, at the places people already pass every day.
External context only. Stats SA, ILO, AfDB and government figures are official statistics, not Big Five audited metrics. Each one is quoted as published, with its period and a link, and every source is listed at the end of the page. Group programme numbers use the labels on Methodology.
Deploy skills, capital, platforms and relationships so Africa can feed its people, educate its leaders, and empower its enterprises — at scale and with proof. Our vision, “A prosperous Africa — for everyone on it”, needs communities that build economies they own.
The Quarterly Labour Force Survey is South Africa's official measure of work. The latest release covers July to September 2026. We use it as external context, then build enterprise where people live.
official unemployment rate in South Africa (8.6 million people unemployed)
Employment rose by 101 000 in the quarter, but unemployment rose too, by 97 000. Year on year the rate is up 1.8 percentage points.
Stats SA · Quarterly Labour Force Survey P0211 (released 10 Nov 2026) · Q3 2026 (Jul–Sep)
unemployment rate for South Africans aged 15–24
Almost two in three young people in the labour force aged 15–24 are unemployed. For 25–34 year-olds the rate is 41.4%.
Stats SA · Quarterly Labour Force Survey P0211 (released 10 Nov 2026) · Q3 2026 (Jul–Sep)
combined rate of unemployment and the potential labour force (LU3), which counts discouraged job-seekers
The official rate counts only people who searched for work and could start. Adding the potential labour force, such as discouraged job-seekers who want work but have stopped searching, gives 44.0%.
Stats SA · Quarterly Labour Force Survey P0211 (released 10 Nov 2026) · Q3 2026 (Jul–Sep)
of South Africans aged 15–34 were NEET: 9.384 million young people
More than four in ten South Africans aged 15–34 are not employed, studying or training. Every month outside both makes the way back harder.
Stats SA · Quarterly Labour Force Survey P0211 (released 10 Nov 2026) · Q3 2026 (Jul–Sep)
Unemployment falls with every age group, and with every level of education completed.
South Africa, Q3 2026 (Jul–Sep), LU1
Stats SA · Quarterly Labour Force Survey P0211 (released 10 Nov 2026) · Q3 2026 (Jul–Sep)
unemployment rate for people without matric, against 11.9% for graduates
Stats SA · Quarterly Labour Force Survey P0211 (released 10 Nov 2026) · Q3 2026 (Jul–Sep)
youth NEET rate in sub-Saharan Africa, just above the global average; nearly two-thirds of the global youth population increase now accrues to the subregion
Skills and jobs are one journey. Our sister page on education follows South African learners from the early years to their first job.
Quality educationWomen in South Africa are less likely to be in the labour force, and more likely to be unemployed when they are.
unemployment rate for women, against 30.7% for men
Stats SA · Quarterly Labour Force Survey P0211 (released 10 Nov 2026) · Q3 2026 (Jul–Sep)
labour force participation rate for women, against 65.0% for men
Stats SA · Quarterly Labour Force Survey P0211 (released 10 Nov 2026) · Q3 2026 (Jul–Sep)
of young women aged 15–34 were NEET, against 41.3% of young men
Stats SA · Quarterly Labour Force Survey P0211 (released 10 Nov 2026) · Q3 2026 (Jul–Sep)
Across Africa, most work is informal. In South Africa, nearly a quarter of people live in townships, where most enterprises start out of necessity.
of all employment in Africa is informal (86.3% in sub-Saharan Africa; 89.5% for women in sub-Saharan Africa)
ILO · Overview of the informal economy in Africa (2025) · 2024, ILO modelled estimates
people employed in South Africa's informal sector (21st ICLS definition, not comparable with pre-Q3 2025 figures)
Stats SA · Quarterly Labour Force Survey P0211 (released 10 Nov 2026) · Q3 2026 (Jul–Sep)
of South Africa's population lives in townships, and a further 32.15% in rural areas
of township enterprises are estimated to be informal, most started out of necessity
jobs projected by end-2025 under the AfDB Jobs for Youth in Africa strategy, which mobilised over $105 billion
African Development Bank · Jobs for Youth in Africa (13 Oct 2025) · Strategy 2016–2025
Decent Work sits at the centre. Poverty, inequality, education, hunger and partnerships decide whether work reaches the people who need it.
Goal 8
The challenge
Promote sustained, inclusive growth and decent work for all. In sub-Saharan Africa the youth NEET rate was 21.6% in 2025, and nearly nine in ten young workers in low- and lower-middle-income countries are in informal employment (ILO).
Source: ILO · Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026How we respond
Container franchises owned and run by youth and women, jobs in production, packing and logistics, and supplier growth on SupplierAdvisor®.
Goal 1
The challenge
Joblessness and poverty reinforce each other. When households have no earner, food, school and health all suffer.
How we respond
Income at the last mile: a franchise owner's own outlet, stocked with affordable Big Five Foods™, where people already pass every day.
Goal 10
The challenge
In Q3 2026 the official unemployment rate ranged from 19.4% in the Western Cape to 44.3% in the Eastern Cape (Stats SA).
Source: Stats SA · Quarterly Labour Force Survey P0211 (released 10 Nov 2026)How we respond
Containers placed at taxi ranks and rural sites, with ContainerAdvisor® feasibility so each site is tested before it opens.
Goal 4
The challenge
Unemployment is 39.2% for people without matric and 11.9% for graduates (Stats SA, Q3 2026). Skills decide who gets in.
Source: Stats SA · Quarterly Labour Force Survey P0211 (released 10 Nov 2026)How we respond
Super-Cube® leadership formation through Big Five Learn, and Wi‑Fi learning at Big Five Direct containers.
Goal 2
The challenge
Food is often the first thing a jobless household cuts. Affordable nutrition close to home protects children while adults look for work.
How we respond
Fortified Big Five Foods™ sold through the same containers that create the jobs, and feeding projects that count every meal.
Goal 17
The challenge
Government, business, funders and communities each hold part of the answer. Without shared rails, enterprise support stays small and hard to verify.
How we respond
Customer and partner projects in one system, verified trade on SupplierAdvisor®, and capital pathways through Big Five Access.
Official SDG colour tiles · sdgs.un.org/goals
The data points to what must be built: owners at the last mile, a formal backbone for informal enterprise, women at the centre, verified trade and capable leaders.
A Big Five Direct container gives a young person or a woman their own business, with stock, training and a tested site.
Most township enterprises are informal. Reliable supply, simple records and fair terms help them grow without losing what works.
Women's unemployment is higher and their participation lower. Outlets designed to be run by women close part of that gap directly.
SupplierAdvisor® lets small producers and suppliers show they can be trusted by schools, programmes and retailers.
Big Five Access and project funding connect funders to specific containers and projects, with progress they can follow.
The Super-Cube® model builds the self-leadership and people skills a franchise owner needs on day one.
Last-mile rails, verified trade, capital, delivery discipline, corridors and community partnership, working with Feed and Educate as one system.
Youth and women need a way into work where they live, not only in city centres.
Solar mobile containers at taxi ranks and rural sites, owned and run by youth and women as franchise owners and run on ContainerAdvisor®.
Small suppliers struggle to prove they are reliable enough for larger buyers.
SupplierAdvisor®: a verified trade system for suppliers, products, quotes and orders that buyers and funders can inspect.
Capital rarely reaches township and rural enterprises on workable terms.
Pathways to institutional and development finance for projects and the enterprises that deliver them.
Programmes stall without delivery discipline and honest reporting.
Programme management that keeps projects on plan and reports outcomes the same way to every partner.
African producers need markets beyond their own town and country.
Ethical routes to market across African and international corridors.
Rural communities are often last to benefit from new enterprise.
A partnership in progress with the Zulu Royal Household, proposing community enterprise from local farmers to local tables.
Deploy a container, become a franchise owner, or bring the Super-Cube® to your team.
Deploy a Big Five Direct container: test your site with ContainerAdvisor®, then apply. Track your application in your account.
See empowering projectsOwn and run a Big Five Direct container stocked with Big Five Foods™, with the franchise terms in plain language.
Become a franchise ownerSix faces of the cube with you at the centre: leadership formation for franchise owners, teams and young people.
Explore the Super-Cube®Full transparency notes: Methodology & sources. Sister pages: Food security and Quality education.
Figures are quoted as each source publishes them, with the period they refer to. Checked 13 November 2026.
NGOs & NPOs
Organisations whose work includes empowering projects can list themselves with Big Five Foods™ in the same public directory, be verified, and receive support through gifts and meals allocated to their projects.
Once an organisation is reviewed and approved, and opts in, it appears on the NGOs & NPOs page with its own organisation page.
In the donor flow, a listed organisation can be chosen as the recipient of a gift, so the meals go to its projects.
Customers and partners can allocate food they buy to an organisation they support. Those meals are counted on the organisation's projects.
Organisations can be verified, list their projects publicly, and follow the meals and reports on those project pages.
Whether you want to own a container, fund one, supply into programmes or build leaders, we design enterprise that people own, with transparent rails.