President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on businesses to give young people more opportunities to gain workplace experience, stressing that a lack of experience should not be mistaken for a lack of ability.
Speaking at a youth employment conference in Sandton, Johannesburg, Ramaphosa said government, businesses and other stakeholders must work together to help young people secure their first jobs and address unemployment.
He acknowledged that many young people struggle to enter the job market because employers require experience, leaving them with few opportunities to develop the skills needed to find work.
“The first opportunities are often difficult to obtain. We must break this cycle,” Ramaphosa said, agreeing with calls to remove the experience barrier that prevents young people from getting their foot in the door.
The president also urged companies to view youth training and skills development as an investment in their businesses. He said young people could bring fresh perspectives and contribute to industries increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.
Ramaphosa stressed that existing youth employment programmes must do more than provide temporary work or training certificates. He said the focus should be on creating sustainable livelihoods and equipping young people to build careers in growing sectors of the economy.
“We must encourage them to be entrepreneurs and technicians, researchers, artisans, business leaders in the industries of the future,” he said.
“But we must be clear about our ambition. We must now move away from just training young people, giving them certificates. Certificates are not jobs.”
Ramaphosa said efforts to address youth unemployment must translate into meaningful employment opportunities that enable young people to participate in the economy.
VOC News
Photo: X/ @PresidencyZA
