Whilst more employment opportunities, than expected, were registered in provinces such as the Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng North, Gauteng South, KwaZulu/Natal, and Western Cape others registered below expected numbers. These include the Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga Province, Northern Cape and North West Province. Although not explained in the annual report, part of the reasons could be the ongoing skills mismatch in the labour market, i.e. continued oversupply of unskilled to semi-skilled labour. Another reason could be the continued use and preference of Private Employment Services over the department's ESSA by employers. Hence, the department should also provide the skills profile of people registered in ESSA so as to establish reasons for such low intake of registered work- seekers.