Employment in the CCIs in South Africa - Report

Overview

This report used data from the Labour Market Dynamics Survey to determine the size of employment in cultural occupations and industries in South Africa in 2015. It made use of the UNESCO (2009) Framework for Cultural Statistics to define the sector. This includes people working in sectors traditionally classed as cultural or creative (such as fine art,
performing art, film, museum, libraries, music, craft etc.) as well as the more commercial sectors (such as designers, architects, advertising and computer programming).

Analysis over time demonstrated what many other countries have also found – that the CCIs are volatile and very responsive to changes in the economy. Cultural occupations declined from making up 2.93% of all jobs in South Africa in 2014 to 2.52% in 2015. An estimation of employment in the cultural and creative industries (including cultural and support occupations) showed that 4.2% of jobs in SA are in the CCIs. If one includes all three parts of the creative trident, total cultural/creative employment in South Africa accounted for 6.72% of all jobs in the country, or just over a million jobs, in 2015.

Eighty percent of those in CCI occupations are Africans, Coloured, and Indian or Asian. More than half of all cultural occupations are held by men (57%). A much higher percentage of cultural and creative workers have tertiary education (38%) than non-cultural workers (19.4%). Salaries for cultural occupations are also generally higher than for non-cultural occupations, which indicates that the sector can offer viable employment opportunities and decent jobs. Forty-three percent of cultural jobs are informal, and more people are freelance or contract workers (“own account workers with no employees) compared to non-cultural jobs (32.5% compared to 8.3%). As found in other studies, cultural and creative occupations may thus offer more precarious employment than non-cultural jobs.