The Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour today received briefings from Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) and the Department of Employment and Labour on unemployment challenges and interventions to address youth unemployment.
The first presentation was by the Statistician-General Mr Risenga Maluleke on the unemployment challenges facing South Africa, focusing on youth unemployment.
Mr Maluleke reported that although the official unemployment rate decreased by 1,3 percentage points to 31,9% in Q3:2025 compared to Q2:2025, youth aged 15-24 and 25-34 continue to have the highest unemployment rates at 58,5% and 38,4%, respectively.
“Youth unemployment remained high over the past decade; official unemployment rate among youth aged 15-34 years stood at 36,9% in Q1:2015 and a decade later, in Q3:2025, that figure increased to 43,7%; a 6,8 percentage points increase, signalling worsening conditions for the youth,” said Mr Maluleke.
According to StatsSA, approximately 3,5 million out of 10,3 million (or 33,9%) young people aged 15-24 were not in employment, education or training and about 1,9 million out of 3,5 million discouraged work-seekers were young people aged 15-34 in Q3 of 2025. The North West and Eastern Cape provinces showed both the highest unemployment rates and the lowest participation rates amongst the youth.
More youth are employed in trade, community and social services, and finance industries. And young people also dominate the elementary, sales and services, and clerk occupations.
The percentage of youth that benefited from social grants increased steadily from 2009 to 2024, and decreased sharply after age 17, dropping from 59,9% to 9,9%, due to the cutoff age for the child grant.
Briefing the committee on projects implemented to target youth unemployment in South Africa, the Department of Employment and Labour confirmed that while unemployment is more prevalent amongst the 16-35 age group, it also affects those over the age of 35.
A delegation of the department led by the Deputy Minister, Ms Judith Nemadzinga-Tshabalala, said there is a need to intensify job creation programmes targeting the youth, especially in provinces affected by poverty and inequality. In addition, the Cabinet approved the National Labour Migration in May this year to guide the department on how to manage labour migration to and from South Africa.
The Cabinet also approved the Employment Services Amendment Bill for submission to Parliament, which once passed will provide the legislative basis for quotas, bilateral labour agreements, extended powers of inspectors and fines in case of non-compliance.
The department has also drafted the National Employment Policy in line with International Labour Organisation Convention 112 and the South African Constitution to provide nine intervention pillars that are critical and interdependent to grow employment levels in South Africa.
Committee member Ms Tebogo Mokwele said it is concerning that even as unemployment statistics are declining, youth unemployment remains high. She questioned the effectiveness of the intervention programmes. “We must reconfigure our economic planning to prioritise job creation for our young people and also strengthen the informal sector,” she said.
Another committee member Mr Vuyo Zungula asked if there is a link between South Africa’s deindustrialisation and the increasing unemployment rate. He also raised a concern about the informal sector being in the control of foreign nationals and the private sector preferring to employ foreign nationals to South Africans. “It is not only a policy issue, but our economy is also not creating enough jobs. The private sector is exploiting foreign nationals; it something that must be looked at,” said Mr Zungula.
The portfolio committee Chairperson, Mr Boyce Maneli, welcomed both the presentations from the department and StatsSA and said the information provided will strengthen the committee’s oversight work. “We will continue to engage with the department on the interventions for youth employment to make sure they yield the expected results and help create the much-needed employment for the young people in our country,” he said.
Sakhile Mokoena
13 November 2025
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