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The figures come from Statistics South Africa's Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS). The QLFS is a household-based sample survey. It collects data on the labour market activities of people aged 15 and older. The QLFS measures employment by where people live. It does not count jobs created by a particular employer, and it can't say whether the City itself created a job. It also carries sampling error, especially at metro level.
The City of Cape Town said that Cape Town added 418 000 jobs between the first quarter of 2022 and the second quarter of 2026, which is 49.6% of the 841 000 jobs added across the metros in that period. The City's breakdown for the other metros was eThekwini +142 000, Tshwane +102 000, Ekurhuleni +96 000, Joburg +65 000, Buffalo City +50 000, NMB +14 000 and Mangaung -46 000. The period matches the current local government term, which is why the comparison is framed that way. The City has linked the growth partly to infrastructure spending: officials estimate about 130 000 construction-related jobs came from its R40 billion infrastructure investment.
The picture is not one-sided. The latest QLFS showed eThekwini overtaking Cape Town for the lowest narrow unemployment rate among the metros. Cape Town still has the lowest broad (expanded) unemployment rate, 24.3% in Q2 2026. Critics have also said that record employment figures can mask a weak job market. Metro job data matters to residents because it shapes debate about how well the City's economic and infrastructure policies are working, and about how it compares with other metros. These claims are usually made in a political context ahead of local government elections.
