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Cape Town - Finance Minister Trevor Manuel rejected on Thursday widespread claims South Africa's unemployment rate is running at 40%.
Answering questions on the Budget during a breakfast function in Cape Town, he said that figure was incorrect.
If it were true, "we will have a revolution", he said.
Unemployment figures should not simply be "bandied about", as was happening.
"Sure unemployment is a problem... but that figure is wrong."
Manuel also rejected suggestions government provide social grants to the unemployed, saying it would bankrupt the country.
According to the Budget Review document - tabled during Manuel's Budget speech in the National Assembly on Wednesday - the official rate of unemployment decreased from 31.2% in March 2003 to 27.8% in March 2004.
A comparison of the findings of a March 2000 Labour Force Survey and the March 2004 survey showed there had been a steady increase in employment across all sectors of the economy, broadly in line with the average rate of economic growth, the document stated.