Transcript

Lee Masuku: Welcome to the CDH Conversations podcast. My name is Lee Masuku, a Senior Associate in CDH's Employment Law Department. Joining me today in conversation is Jean Ewang, Counsel in our Employment Law department. Jean, thank you so much for making time to have a discussion with me today. 

Jean Ewang: Thank you for having me Lee.

Youth Month

Lee Masuku: Now Jean in South Africa June of each year, as you will well know, marks Youth Month, and this is when we commemorate the Soweto uprising that took place on 16 June, 1976. Now, the youth in the Apartheid era struggled against oppression and fought for liberation. However, today we will be speaking about a slightly different struggle that South Africa's youth face today.

It is a much more silent struggle in the form of youth unemployment.

Now in relation to the current state of youth unemployment in South Africa, Jean, you will know that Statistics South Africa published the Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the first quarter of 2025 on the 13th of May. And what the Survey indicated is that South Africa's official unemployment rate rose to 32.9%,which is the highest rate since the second quarter of 2024 where the unemployment rate was 33.5%. 

Current state of youth unemployment in South Africa

Jean Ewang: That's correct. Lee. Young people aged 15 to 34 make up about 50.2% of South Africa's working age population, which translates to approximately 20.9 million individuals.

South Africa's youth face the highest barriers to entering the workforce with unemployment figures significantly outpacing that of older individuals.

In particular, of the approximately 10.5 million individuals that formed the 15 to 24 working age group, 4.8 million are unemployed. This means that the youth unemployment rate for the first quarter of 2025 currently sits at 46.1%. In comparison, a decade ago unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 34 was sitting at 36.9%. So this highlights a significant deterioration in the job prospects for millions of South African youth. 

Lee Masuku: Yeah, Jean, that's quite a concerning state of affairs, and it goes without saying that for many young South Africans, landing a job is a significant milestone, but obviously more than that, it is a crucial step towards economic independence and inclusion. Unfortunately, given the current youth unemployment rate, these important first steps remain out of reach for millions of South African youth. 

Jean Ewang: Yeah, that's unfortunately correct Lee. So I think what makes it worse is that in the first quarter of 2025, approximately 1.9 million youth, described as people between the age of 15 to 34 were classified as discouraged work seekers. And what this means is that these are people who have given up looking for work. I mean, this is in comparison to 1.5 million adults between the ages of 35 to 64. So what these figures reveal is how discouraged young people are, and particularly how young people are vulnerable to discouragement driven by their limited kind of job and life experience, and the fewer employment opportunities.

Lee Masuku: Yes, Jean. And you know, from what I understand is that of the 4.8 million unemployed youth in the first quarter of 2025, 58.7% of them reported having no previous work experience. And what this means is that six in ten unemployed young people are still waiting for their first opportunity to enter the job market.

Jean Ewang: Yeah, and you can imagine that without work experience, a lot of these youth will struggle to get hired and, you know, of course without being hired, they can't gain the experience. So it's uh, a bit of a vicious cycle that perpetuates exclusion from the workforce and adds to the long-term unemployment and, store skills development for the youth at this critical stage of their lives. 

The role of education in employment prospects

Lee Masuku: Now, what about education, Jean? Do you think that education or one's qualifications have any impact on how South African youth are able to find or secure employment? 

Jean Ewang: Absolutely. Education does continue to play a vital role in determining employment prospects, particularly for young people. So by way of an example, the individuals who do not have a matric qualification will face the steepest uphill climb with the unemployment rate among this group being 51.6%, which is the highest across all education levels. For those who do complete matric, the position only marginally improves with the unemployment rate remaining high at 47.6%. Taking it a step further, the youth who can obtain vocational technical training fare a bit better with the unemployment rate reducing to 37.3%.

The clearest advantage against unemployment are youth who are university graduates with unemployment rate drops significantly to 23.9%. So I think what these figures illustrate is just the protective and [00:05:00] the positive effect of high education qualifications and the tight labour market. 

Key industries and job roles for youth

Lee Masuku: Yeah. You know Jean, perhaps maybe just one last thing on the statistics themselves.

There are certain industries that continue to provide key opportunities for young workers. In particular the trade industry, specifically the retail, wholesale, and hospitality sectors, remain the largest employer of youth. Where they absorb 24.5% of the employed youth population. This is then followed by the community and social services industry, the finance industry, and the manufacturing industry.

Jean Ewang: Yes. And when it comes to job roles, the youth are mostly concentrated in elementary occupations, sales and services, clerical roles, craft and related trades. So in other words, many young workers are clustered in low skilled or service-based occupations.

Spotlight on the YES programme

Lee Masuku: Now Jean, I recall that a couple of years ago, the South African Government introduced the Youth Employment Services, or YES, programme that seeks to combat the very issue of youth unemployment.
Can you just explain to us what does this YES programme entail, and how successful has it been in reducing youth unemployment? 

Jean Ewang: Yes. So in 2018, the Government launched the YES programme as a partnership between the Government and private sector to address the crisis of youth unemployment. Particularly, the YES program was focused on collaborating with business to create quality 12 month long work experiences for youth.

Since its inception, the YES programme is said to have created over 188,000 jobs across key sectors like tech and tourism. And in doing so, has injected approximately 10.9 billion into the South African economy through the YES youth salaries. So the YES initiative appears to have had some positive contributions towards combating youth unemployment, but perhaps not necessarily at the scale that the problem requires.
I think I would like to hear your thoughts in relation to the role that skills development in organisations and initiatives such as the YES programme have had on reduction on youth unemployment. 

Lee Masuku: Thanks, Jean. I do think that organisations ought to look carefully at their skills development plans and consider how they can best play a more active role in reducing youth unemployment, especially through their participation in initiatives such as the YES programme.

Now, I say this because it is clear from the structure of the YES programme, for example, that the Government has realised that the combating of an issue of the enormity of youth unemployment cannot be solved through policy directives alone.

What it requires instead is employers to "come to the party", so to speak, to play a role in reducing youth unemployment.

There are also benefits for employers in becoming involved in initiatives aimed at addressing youth unemployment. For example, participation in the YES programme holds strategic value for businesses because it enables them to gain up to two levels on their B-BBEE scorecard and seamlessly integrate youth employment into the ESG, Employment Equity and sector building strategies.

National labour migration policy: potential impacts

Lee Masuku: Now as a final point, Jean, I know that on 28 May. 2025, the South African Cabinet announced that it had approved the 2025 National Labor Migration Policy White Paper for implementation. Do you think that this will in any way impact on youth unemployment in South Africa? 

Jean Ewang: So in general, some of the primary objectives of the white paper is that it aims to achieve, firstly, addressing labour market needs by aiming to attract and retain critical skills needed in the South African economy while ensuring that local workers are not displaced.

One of the other objectives is that the policy is aimed at protecting migrant workers. It emphasises the protection of migrant worker rights, ensuring they're treated fairly and have access to social protections. So among the goals that the white paper seeks to achieve is to address, essentially, South Africans job security and expectations for job prospects, in light of rising unemployment. The policy seeks to address the perception that foreign nationals restrict labour market access. So the reduction of unemployment amongst the youth, as a vulnerable group in the South African economy, is one of the key considerations of the policy, and we can only hope that the policy when implemented is effective in the struggle against youth and employment.

Lee Masuku: Thank you, Jean, for your time and this insightful discussion on the issues facing the youth today in respect of unemployment. 

Jean Ewang: Thanks, Lee. It's a pleasure.