Numerous people are under the impression that Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal is currently in a backslide and therefore ” a dead end town”, as stated by a local business owner.
However, after speaking with CIPC and obtaining some figures on the town, it would appear the opposite is true. In reality, Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal is seeing growth and development.
Over 1000 new business entities were registered in the Newcastle area in 2022, according to the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), indicating a positive trend in the economy. The CIPC also reported that there are a total of 12,232 active entities in Newcastle, with only 12 entities being deregistered during the course of 2022. This is a promising development amidst the struggles that Newcastle residents have faced in recent years.
Moreover, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has released its Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES, Q4:2022) survey, which revealed an increase in total employment in the formal non-agricultural sector by 48,000 in the fourth quarter of 2022, bringing the level of employment to almost 10 million.
The trade industry saw an increase of 49,000, business services by 9,000, and mining by 2,000. However, the construction industry lost around 10,000 jobs, while manufacturing and electricity shed around 1,000 jobs each.
Stats SA also reported an increase in total gross earnings paid to employees by R67.8 billion or 8.5% from September 2022 to December 2022. The increase was mainly due to community services, trade, manufacturing, business services, construction, transport, electricity, and mining industries. Moreover, the basic salary/wages paid to employees increased by R22.8 billion or 3.1% from September 2022 to December 2022.
The year-on-year total gross earnings increased by R39.2 billion or 4.7% between December 2021 and December 2022. Basic salary/wages also increased by R31.9 billion or 4.4% during the same period.
These statistics paint a positive picture for the economy, with more people securing employment and salaries slowly increasing.
With the growing number of new business entities registering in the Newcastle area and the positive employment statistics, it seems that there is a glimmer of hope for the economy.
One Response
Small families with 1 or 2 kids are more successful than larger families. More finance and attention can be given to individual kids. Contraception really needs to be understood better and implemented better. Please educate our people.