South Africa’s unemployment rate rose to 32.9% in the first quarter of the year, the national statistics body announced two weeks before the country goes to the polls.
It signals an increase of 0.8% from the last quarter of 2023.
South Africa has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world.
One in two young South Africans is unemployed and 60% are living below the poverty line.
Stubbornly high unemployment, corruption and persistent economic inequalities are some of the dominant election issues.
Voters have mounted criticism of the handling of the economy by the governing African National Congress (ANC) party, which has been in power since the end of white-minority rule in 1994.
Some polls suggest the party could get less than 50% of the vote for the first time.