While African female representation within the ICT sector took a slight dip between 2023 and 2024, it is the second-biggest demographic behind white males.
This is despite unfavourable labour data showing fewer women have been participating in SA’s overall labour market, as compared to men, from 2014 to 2024.
The datasets from the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) for the 2023/2024 financial year show the ICT sector had a workforce of 253 859, ranging from top-level management, to unskilled persons.
This latest figure is slightly down from the 255 933 people the sector employed during the 2022/2023 financial year.
There was a total of 140 877 (55%) male employees in the sector in 2024, versus 115 158 (45%) females during that same period.
This current financial year shows a slight balancing of the scales, given that the sector had 150 303 (58.7%) male employees compared to 105 604 (41.3%) females during last year’s review period.
Benchmarked against their white male counterparts of 56 214 (22%) employees in the sector, African females stood just behind at 54 039 (21.1%).
There has been gradual growth within the African female demographic over the years, with an increase from 47 567 (19.2%) in 2021, 50 155 (20.6%) in 2022 and 54 338 (21.2%) in 2023.
African males made up 45 381 (17.7%) of the ICT sector workforce during the period under review, which is a decline from the previous 54 423 (21.3%) in the 2022/2023 period.
Overall, the data shows the Indian demographic of male and female employees within the sector was the biggest gainer.
In the 2022/2023 financial year, there were 15 226 (5.9%) Indian males in the sector, with 9 127 (3.6%) Indian female employees during this same period. For the 2023/2024 financial year, there was a slight increase to 21 112 (8.2%) males and 15 994 (6.2%) females.
The CEE is a statutory body established in terms of the Employment Equity Act (EEA). Its functions include advising the employment and labour minister on matters pertaining to advancement of the Act, implementation of the EEA's objectives, policy and any other related matters.
The CEE report provides an overview of the status of the employment equity of the labour market in the country, as reported by the designated employers in the 2023/2024 period.
Despite some local ICT sector gains, fewer women than men have been participating in the total labour market, as compared to a decade ago.
According to Statistics SA, women continue to shoulder a disproportionate burden of unemployment, underemployment and lower workforce participation compared to men.
Statistics SA’s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey shows the absorption rate for men consistently reported higher rates than women from 2014 to 2024, with gender differences ranging from nine to 12.5 percentage points.
The absorption rate for women remained below 40%, declining by 1.1 percentage points from 36.9% in the second quarter of 2014, to 35.8% in the second quarter of 2024. The highest absorption rate for women was 38.3%, recorded in the first quarter of 2017.
Absorption rates for women declined across all education levels between Q2:2014 and Q2:2024, with more significant drops observed among those with tertiary qualifications (10.5 percentage points) and those with a matric qualification (6.1 percentage points).
Meanwhile, the absorption rate for men rose from 48.7% in the second quarter of 2014, to a peak of 50.4% in the fourth quarter of 2015, before declining to 44.9% in the second quarter of 2024.
“Over the 10-year span from Q2:2014 to Q2:2024, gender disparity in unemployment rates has persisted across all education levels in South Africa. Women, irrespective of their educational background – whether they have less than a matric certificate, a matric certificate, other tertiary qualifications, or a graduate degree – consistently face higher unemployment rates compared to men,” says Statistics SA.
“While both men and women have seen increases in unemployment rates across all educational categories during this period, the data highlights a disproportionately greater impact on women.
“The most significant rises were among women with tertiary qualifications, where the unemployment rate jumped from 15.1% in Q2:2014 to 26.9% in Q2:2024, a rise of 11.8 percentage points, and those with a matric qualification, which increased from 28.8% to 39.5%, a rise of 10.7 percentage points.
“Women with graduate qualifications saw the smallest increase in unemployment, rising by 3.8 percentage points over the decade. In Q2:2024, their unemployment rate stood at 10.7%, which is higher than the 8.3% observed among men with similar qualifications,” states Statistics SA’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey.
* Graphs sourced from the Commission for Employment Equity and Stats SA Quarterly Labour Force Survey for Q2:2024.
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