Overview
- Speaking at the June 16–17 Soweto National Youth Day commemoration, President Cyril Ramaphosa urged private employers to hire young people and said the government will share hiring risk through the Employment Tax Incentive, a payroll tax break that lowers the cost of taking on inexperienced workers.
- The Presidency provided fresh program figures at the event, saying SA Youth.mobi has 5.7 million registrations with more than 2 million gaining access to earning opportunities and the Presidential Employment Stimulus has delivered about 2.5 million work or livelihood opportunities, of which 82% are young people and 66% are women.
- Ramaphosa highlighted targeted schemes that place youth in work: the Jobs Boost pilot enrolled over 9,000 with about 7,200 placed, and the revitalised National Youth Service has placed more than 130,000 young people with roughly 100,000 additional community opportunities available.
- He reiterated a planned R1 trillion state infrastructure investment over the next three years designed to create apprenticeships, artisan training and enterprise opportunities for youth, and said TVET colleges will be reshaped to link training more directly to local employer needs.
- All figures and program claims were announced by the government at the Youth Day events and have not been independently verified in the reporting, so private‑sector hiring response to the ETI and the conversion of listed opportunities into long‑term jobs will be the key measures to watch next.