I still believe unemployment is 10%, says Capitec boss Gerrie Fourie

Outgoing Capitec Group CEO Gerrie Fourie has called on South Africa to massively grow the number of entrepreneurs if it wanted to unlock its potential. 

He told shareholders at the last AGM he would preside over on Friday that he still believes the country's true employment rate is 10% instead of the 32% reported by Stats SA. 

“I really believe that our unemployment rate is not 32%; I believe if we work the informal market and we use all our data, we are much closer to 10% than what is being said. If we want to unlock the potential in South Africa, we must grow entrepreneurs. The biggest entrepreneurs are what we call the emerging market or the informal market. I am amazed to see the size of that market.”

Fourie said the financial sector must look at how to lower banking fees for the informal sector, and give participants in the sector credit to grow their businesses and develop.

One of the stories I can quickly tell is that a person bought juices for R2, he sold for R5 and bought another case and started financing himself. He is now employing two or three people, he bought a bakkie, and he is now looking at building a spaza shop in Thembisa

—  Gerrie Fourie, outgoing Capitec CEO

“One of the stories I can quickly tell is that a person bought juices for R2, he sold for R5 and bought another case and started financing himself. He is now employing two or three people, he bought a bakkie, and he is now looking at building a spaza shop in Thembisa.”

Fourie unleashed a storm last month when he suggested that Stats SA was miscounting the informal sector when it reported on employment. Two ministers spoke out in support of this view. This led to a to-and-fro between the Capitec boss and statistician-general Risenga Maluleke, who insisted Stats SA's methodology was not flawed. 

Fourie and Maluleke subsequently met at a meeting facilitated by minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni. The meeting was held to address Fourie's concerns and allow Stats SA to explain its data collection methods.

Fourie, 61, has served Capitec as the CEO for over 11 years and was one of the bank's founders. He is passing the baton to the group executive of the personal bank division, Graham Lee.

He said Capitec was started in 2001 as mainly a micro lender. It had 25,000 clients in 2003 and had since grown its client base to 24.1 million, served by 880 branches as of the end of February 2025.

The bank’s share price skyrocketed from R6 a share a year after it listed on the JSE to R3,400 a share today. Its listing price in 2002 was R2.75 a share. 

Fourie said that when the bank began in 2001, it was lending cash at 30% interest a month, but had a clear plan and vision which helped it rise to the top in the consumer banking segment, above South Africa's traditional big four lenders. 

“I think we were crazy to say we would take on the four traditional banks. As you all know now, we are much bigger than them in client numbers. It shows you what you can do by getting the fundamentals right,” he said.

Fourie, who will continue advising Capitec on its expansion strategy, said the long-term vision for the next four to five years was to make it a global brand. “How do you build a global capital brand? Are we going to be a bank, are we going to be a tech company, are we going to be in remittances, which countries are we going to go in?”

He said going forward the group would also focus on technology, which meant that data, including AI, would be critical to add value and grow the company.