Pressure mounts on South Africa’s ruling party as unemployment rises again ahead of election

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africa’s unemployment rate rose to 32.1% in the fourth quarter of 2023. It is the highest in the world. Official government figures released on Tuesday said that the number of unemployed working-age people in South Africa rose to 7.9 million after 46,000 more became unemployed in the last three months of last year, increasing from 31.9%. The news is a blow to the ruling African National Congress party as it prepares to face its steepest election test ever in a few months. The ANC, once led by Nelson Mandela, has been in government since the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule in 1994.