South Africa’s official unemployment rate hit a record high of 30.8% in the third quarter, with the expanded definition of unemployment, which includes discouraged work seekers, rising to a catastrophic 43.1%. Joblessness has been this country’s biggest problem for decades, fuelling the twin scourges of poverty and inequality. Extricating ourselves from this deepening hole requires a step change in investment to stimulate growth and jobs. That will require increased policy certainty, including the certainty that those who steal money through corrupt practices will face the consequences.