Is hope in a new new dawn enough? Besides the bad weather, SA faces a storm of struggles in high unemployment and cost of living and low economic growth. It has left some feeling like all we have as a nation left is hope. SA’s latest unemployment figures were released on Tuesday, showing a rise in joblessness to 33.6%. The New Dawn once promised has had no material progress in reducing the rate of unemployment, with the rate remaining over 30% for more than five years.