This study represents an assessment of key issues relating to the labour market based on survey research conducted in an Eastern Cape secondary urban centre. This study was conducted at a time when South Africa was undergoing rapid social, economic and political transition. The primary focus of this study is on the specific implications of structural unemployment. Key sub-dimensions include the nature of divisions in the labour market, the extent of migrancy, survival strategies by the structurally unemployed, and perceptions of the union movement at a time when the latter’s role has become increasingly institutionalised
