Youth Employment Programme Secures 155,000 New Opportunities

The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) supported 6,085 young entrepreneurs through financial and non-financial assistance programmes.

South Africa's Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI) secured more than 155,000 new earning opportunities during the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, reinforcing its position as one of the country's largest initiatives aimed at tackling youth unemployment.

The latest progress was outlined by Deputy Minister in The Presidency Nonceba Mhlauli during a media briefing in Pretoria, where she highlighted the programme's growing impact in connecting young people with jobs, workplace experience and entrepreneurship opportunities.

Programme continues expanding its reach

Mhlauli described the PYEI as the government's flagship strategy for addressing youth unemployment. Launched in 2020 by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the intervention seeks to help young people move from education and training into earning opportunities by coordinating efforts across government, business and civil society.

The National Pathway Management Network (NPMN), which serves as the backbone of the initiative, continues to expand rapidly. More than 5.9 million young people are now registered on the SA Youth platform, while over 5.36 million have enrolled on the Employment Services of South Africa (ESSA) system.

Since its launch, the programme has facilitated access to more than 2.5 million temporary earning opportunities through SA Youth, alongside an additional 422,667 opportunities through ESSA.

Mhlauli noted that women continue to benefit strongly from the initiative, with more than 70 per cent of opportunities secured through SA Youth being taken up by young women.

Workplace experience and entrepreneurship gain momentum

Several employment and skills programmes recorded significant progress during the reporting period. The private-sector-led Youth Employment Service (YES) placed 18,310 young people into workplace experience opportunities.

The Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) placement programme, managed through the Department of Higher Education and Training, facilitated 5,005 work-integrated learning opportunities for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) students and graduates.

The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) supported 6,085 young entrepreneurs through financial and non-financial assistance programmes. At the same time, Phase 4 of the revitalised National Youth Service recruited an additional 5,272 participants, bringing the total number of paid service opportunities created under the programme to 138,056.

Government plans to further expand the initiative through Phase 5, which aims to recruit another 100,000 young people nationwide.

Jobs Boost Fund exceeds targets

One of the programme's standout achievements was the successful completion of the Jobs Boost Outcomes Fund Pilot, a R300 million initiative designed to improve youth employment outcomes through results-based financing.

By March 30, 2026, the pilot had enrolled 9,174 young people, exceeding its enrolment target by 10 per cent. It also secured 7,044 job placements, surpassing the original target by 54 per cent.

More than 5,200 jobs were sustained for at least three months, while nearly 3,800 remained active after six months. Mhlauli said the pilot demonstrated that outcomes-based financing can effectively support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Building on these results, government is preparing to scale the programme into a R1 billion initiative aimed at delivering 20,000 quality job placements through public-private partnerships.

The Deputy Minister also highlighted the work of the NPMN Innovation Fund in rural communities. In KwaZulu-Natal, HPSA Southern Africa enrolled 1,800 young people in agricultural and animal health services. Of these, 678 are already earning income and have collectively generated sales worth R1.4 million.

Looking ahead, Mhlauli said government remains focused on expanding access to quality work opportunities while strengthening partnerships that can help more young South Africans enter the economy and build sustainable livelihoods.