South Africa’s youth unemployment crisis is worsening, with alarming new data revealing that nearly half of young people are unable to find work.
According to Statistics South Africa’s The Social Profile of the Youth, 2014–2024 report, youth unemployment has risen from 36.8% in 2014 to 45.5% in 2024.
Analysis showed that youth unemployment rates were also significantly higher than adults in the reported period. Provincial variations show that Western Cape, Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal are the only provinces that reported a lower unemployment rate of the youth compared to the national rate. However from 2014 to 2024, all the provinces’ recorded an increase in the youth unemployment rate except Western Cape that reported a decrease.
Additionally, the number of young people classified as NEET (Not in Employment, Education, or Training) increased from 38.2% to 43.2% over the past decade.
Responding to the report, ActionSA called for urgent reforms to the country’s 21 Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs), which it accuses of failing to equip young people with employable skills.
“Instead of fulfilling their mandate, SETAs have become a revolving door of job creation for ANC-connected cadres, many of whom are repeatedly recycled across various boards and executive positions,” said ActionSA MP Alan Beesley.
“There is no justification for maintaining 21 separate SETAs, each with a 15-member board, resulting in an excessive 315 board positions draining public funds.”
Despite spending over R60 million on directors’ salaries last year, SETAs managed to enrol only 53,518 students in skills training programmes, just a third of the 149,000 target, the party said.
The party has called on the Minister of Higher Education, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane, to reform and streamline SETAs to ensure they deliver meaningful skills development.
A recent study by Stellenbosch University also highlighted the bleak outlook for young South Africans entering the labour market. The report, School Completion, the Matric and Post-School Transitions in South Africa, found that one in every two recent matriculants (aged 15-24 with 12 years of completed schooling) are classified as NEET.
“The rising numbers of youth leaving school with a matric, particularly in recent years, is not being met with enough opportunities beyond school, whether in work or in post-school education and training (PSET),” said Dr Gabrielle Wills from Stellenbosch University’s Research on Socio-Economic Policy Group.
“The road to opportunity beyond school is harder and more hazardous than it was a decade ago when finding a job was easier for matriculants than it will be for the matric class of 2024.”
The study also highlights the role of geography in post-matric prospects. “For instance, among 15-24-year-olds with a matric living in the Western Cape in 2023/24, about a third were NEET, compared to 61% of their peers in Mpumalanga and two-thirds (68%) in North West,” Wills noted.
Even as South Africa sees increasing numbers of young people achieving a matric qualification, the report warned that post-school education and employment opportunities have not expanded in tandem.
Wills also pointed out that South Africa is lagging behind comparable middle-income countries in higher education enrollment.
“For example, 2021 estimates from the World Bank identify South Africa’s tertiary enrolment rate at 25%, compared to 57% in Brazil and 67% in China. This gap between South Africa’s tertiary enrolment rate and that of comparative countries has increased since the 1990s.”
Wills emphasised that addressing youth unemployment requires a multi-faceted approach.
“We must expand access to quality PSET opportunities, improve the alignment between the supply of skills from the education system and labour market demands, and create effective pathways to employment,” she said.