Tackling South Africa’s youth unemployment challenges

YOUTH unemployment is one of the most pressing issues in South Africa and it remains persistent ever since the transition to democracy in 1994.

- SIFISO SONJICA

The challenge remains unabated and is likely to cause social instability, despite several policy interventions and government initiatives aimed at addressing it. Several reasons including economic stagnation, poor governance, lack of opportunities and corruption among others are attributed to this challenge.

This undertaking articulates the nature of unemployment among the youth in South Africa, the underlying causes of this challenge, and the proposed strategies to address it thereof.

Youth unemployment in South Africa: A general perspective

To begin with, the United Nations joint program on HIV/Aids stipulates that the elevated level of unemployment among youth in South Africa is one of the structural barriers that directly impact on the risk of HIV infection and the support available to people living with HIV.

Further, Stephen Mago underscores that unemployment in South Africa poses a serious challenge to the youth today, leading many to engage in criminal activities, others get pregnancies due to idleness and lack of economic opportunities.

According to Statistics South Africa, “In 2010, youth unemployment rate in six of the nine provinces was over 40,0% in provinces such as Eastern Cape (40,3%), Free State (40,5%) and Mpumalanga (41,1%)”. In addition, the following year also saw an increase in youth unemployment rates in six of the nine provinces of South Africa.

On the other hand, the National Treasury indicated that, “the situation regarding youth unemployment is even worse with just 24% of young people participating in the labour market”.

More recently, the unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 24 was 62.4 % in the first quarter of 2025.

For youth aged 25 to 34 the unemployment rate in the first quarter was 40%. The unemployment rate for the entire youth cohort (aged 15-34) reached 46.1% in the first quarter of 2025.