President Cyril President Cyril Ramaphosa told Durban business on Wednesday that eThekwini has the lowest metro jobless rate and the world’s most improved port.
He spoke at the chamber’s 170th anniversary gala dinner, six days before the 4 November local government election, according to the text of the address on the Presidency’s website.
Ramaphosa said eThekwini was the only metro whose jobless rate dropped on the previous quarter as well as on a year earlier. Stats SA’s survey for April to June put the rate at 21.2%, down from 22.3% in January to March and 26.8% a year earlier. Employment stood at 1.29 million, about 90,000 higher than a year before, the president said, in line with the agency’s table.
On investment, he cited R124.5 billion in pledges from the recent provincial investment conference, with eThekwini taking the bulk, spread over factories, motor assembly, infrastructure, freight and tourism. About 1.2 million visitors came to the city over last year’s festive season, he said.
On the port, Ramaphosa said a World Bank and S&P Global ranking of around 400 container ports gave Durban the biggest efficiency gain. He said the Durban Gateway Terminal moves close to half of the country’s containerised freight, that rail volumes continue to recover and that cable theft and security incidents on the network have declined.
Source: Statistics South Africa, Quarterly Labour Force Survey Q2 2026, Table 2.3. Chart: Rand Desk
He also named a current problem. “We are aware of the serious disruptions at the Durban Gateway Terminal following the migration of its terminal operating system,” he said. The transport minister went to the terminal earlier in October, and government will keep watching it until normal operations return, he said.
Not everything in the speech was good news. Ramaphosa said water problems in the metro continue to hold back recovery and that an infrastructure backlog constrains investment. The Durban Business Confidence Index slipped in the second quarter, he said, and firms are carrying dear electricity, higher fuel prices and supply chain disruptions.
He said the chamber has flagged rising closures, mostly of small and medium businesses, and has commissioned the Human Sciences Research Council to survey why. Government will wait for the findings before it adjusts its support, he said.
The president turned to security near the end. He said looting and vandalism had struck small shops in the metro in recent weeks, and police are investigating a man’s killing in the city centre last week. The incidents were isolated, he said, but he had approved the army’s deployment across KwaZulu-Natal through November. Our earlier report on the deployment of 510 soldiers has the detail.
Ramaphosa also urged the audience to vote. “We are just days away from an election and the political climate is charged,” he said.
For the labour market figures behind the speech, see our report on eThekwini’s informal trading spending. Voters can check the extended Home Affairs office hours before the vote on 4 November.
