SA's youth unemployment crisis needs permanent solutions beyond short-term fixes

Yershen Pillay, CEO of the Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority (Chieta)

Short-term placements, long-term disappointment

The country has invested heavily in youth employment programmes, yet the outcomes remain underwhelming. Too often, initiatives are designed around short-term placements that provide temporary relief but fail to open pathways to permanent work. Young people cycle in and out of these opportunities, only to find themselves back in the unemployment queue within a year.

This is not a matter of effort or intent. It is a matter of design. Incentives in our current system reward numbers, not futures; placements, not permanence. The result is a cycle that sustains compliance and optics, but not transformation.

Structural barriers: Who gets left behind?

Geography compounds the exclusion. Opportunities tend to cluster in large cities and corporate hubs, while the deepest unemployment is entrenched in rural and peri-urban communities. Towns like QwaQwa, Giyani, and Kuruman remain largely bypassed, despite overwhelming demand from youth who are eager and ready to work.

When programmes fail to reach those most excluded, they risk entrenching inequality instead of dismantling it. The problem is not a lack of young people seeking work. It is that our models are not designed to scale equitably or sustainably.

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What must change

South Africa must move beyond pilot projects and short-term fixes. We need a youth employment model that:

• Rewards permanence, not just placements. Incentives must be tied to long-term absorption and job creation.
  
• Extends beyond metro hubs. Rural and peri-urban communities must be prioritised through targeted incentives, support for SMMEs, cooperatives, and community enterprises.
  
• Broadens responsibility. Employment cannot be the mandate of business alone. Government, training institutions, organised labour, and youth themselves must co-design an ecosystem of sustainable opportunities.

Building from our strengths

We are not starting from zero. South Africa has robust training infrastructure in TVET colleges, Setas, and Smart Skills Centres. When these institutions are connected to industry demand, they create pathways that are both scalable and future-focused.

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Chieta’s Smart Skills Centres, for instance, are already rolling out training in artificial intelligence, digital technologies, and green hydrogen. These initiatives bring cutting-edge skills directly into communities, equipping young people for the jobs of the future — jobs that are global, sustainable, and transformative.

International examples, such as Germany’s dual vocational system, show the power of integrating classroom learning with structured apprenticeships. Locally, when Setas are effectively managed, they have proven that skills programmes aligned with industry needs can create real bridges into employment.

The urgent call

Youth unemployment is South Africa’s ticking time bomb. We cannot afford another cycle of broken promises or temporary relief schemes. Our young people deserve models that deliver scale, permanence, and dignity.

The choice is clear: continue with short-term optics, or commit to systemic reform that truly changes the trajectory of millions of lives. If we choose the latter, we not only honour our youth — we secure the future of our economy and our nation.