Deputy Minister Launches Hospitality Internship Programme to Boost Youth Jobs

South Africa’s hospitality industry contributes nearly 4% to GDP and is considered a key driver of economic growth and tourism.

A new initiative aimed at tackling South Africa’s high youth unemployment rate in the hospitality sector was launched this week by Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister Nomusa Dube-Ncube. The programme is a collaborative effort between government, the private sector, and academia, with partners including Diageo South Africa, the University of Johannesburg’s School of Tourism and Hospitality, and the Youth Employment Service (YES).

The launch took place on Thursday at the University of Johannesburg, marking a significant step toward creating skills-based pathways, internships, and employment opportunities for young South Africans eager to join one of the country’s fastest-growing industries.

Building Careers, Not Just Filling Jobs

Deputy Minister Dube-Ncube highlighted that this partnership is about more than short-term placements. She framed it as a career-building initiative designed to produce chefs, creators, innovators, and entrepreneurs.

“This is about producing chefs, creators, innovators and entrepreneurs. It is about building careers, not just filling jobs,” she said.

She also pointed to the strong track record of the YES Programme, which in 2024 achieved a 100% absorption rate – ensuring that every youth trained was either placed in employment or supported to start their own business.

Opportunities and Challenges in Hospitality

South Africa’s hospitality industry contributes nearly 4% to GDP and is considered a key driver of economic growth and tourism. However, Dube-Ncube emphasised that the sector faces slow transformation and inequality, with many disadvantaged young people confined to low-paying entry-level roles.

“To develop a skilled chef takes more than a job; it requires education, mentorship, and opportunity,” she explained, adding that programmes such as Learning for Life are designed to push beyond cooking skills into broader areas of economic inclusion, transformation, and nation-building.

Government’s Skills Development Agenda

The Deputy Minister outlined government’s broader role in addressing youth unemployment and creating enabling conditions for skills development.

She cited the role of Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs), established under the Skills Development Act of 1998, in addressing sector-specific skills shortages.

In the hospitality field, the responsibility falls under CATHSSETA (Culture, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality, and Sport Sector Education and Training Authority). In May 2025, CATHSSETA marked a milestone by graduating 164 learners from the Occupational Chef Qualification Programme (NQF 5) – progress that Dube-Ncube said must now be accelerated.

Priorities for the Future

Dube-Ncube laid out five key government priorities to ensure youth development in hospitality goes beyond entry-level placements:

• Expanding access: Establishing satellite training hubs in townships and rural areas to remove geographic barriers.

• Simplifying access: Streamlining application systems and ensuring youth without digital tools can still apply.

• Guaranteeing opportunities: Ensuring training leads directly to internships, apprenticeships, and reputable work placements.

• Supporting entrepreneurship: Providing seed funding, mentorship, and business support to young people who wish to start their own ventures.

• Tracking outcomes: Introducing alumni tracking systems to measure success, refine training, and scale impactful models.

“This is how we will ensure that today’s beneficiaries are not just employees but become employers, innovators, and leaders,” she concluded.

A Step Toward Inclusive Growth

The internship programme is part of a wider strategy to use collaboration between government, business, and universities to tackle youth unemployment. By targeting a sector with high potential for growth, the initiative aims to transform the hospitality industry into a vehicle for both economic inclusion and national development.

With youth unemployment remaining one of South Africa’s most pressing challenges, the launch underscores the urgency of skills-focused, job-creating partnerships that extend beyond temporary opportunities into sustainable career pathways.