IRR report offers reforms to help generate jobs, skills, and set SA on path to prosperity

In the 1994 election the African National Congress (ANC) used the rallying slogan “Jobs, jobs, jobs!” to help bolster its support. Thirty-two years later, that promise remains largely unmet, especially among “born free” South Africans aged 15 to 24.

Among these young people, the unemployment rate stands at a dispiriting 62.8%. On what might now be called an “expanded” definition (based on a combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force), the youth joblessness rate is 72.9%.

These are some of the key points in a new report by the IRR, titled Generating Jobs and Skills for Growth and Prosperity, 2026, launched with a webinar discussion today between author Dr Anthea Jeffery and IRR projects and publications manager Terence Corrigan. The report is the latest in the IRR’s Blueprint for Growth series.

As the report points out, the joblessness rate among the working-age population as a whole is currently 33.6% on the official definition. This is one of the highest unemployment rates in the world. By contrast, the International Labour Organisation estimates that the global unemployment rate in 2026 will be 4.9%.

“Many factors contribute to South Africa’s unemployment catastrophe,” notes Jeffery. “Low rates of fixed investment and economic growth reduce the demand for labour. Coercive labour laws drive up employment costs beyond what many employers can afford. Sectors such as agriculture and mining, which ought to be able to employ many more people, are hobbled by bad policy and poor logistics.”

In addition, as the report points out, basic education is so dysfunctional that many young people (580,000 in 2025 alone) leave school without even a matric. In addition, most matriculants are so poorly prepared in literacy, numeracy, and analytical skills that they cannot cope with the rigours of tertiary education, whether in universities or in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges.

Instead of trying to overcome these major challenges, the ANC – which still dominates the Government of National Unity (GNU) – has focused for the past decade on providing “free” education for poor and working-class students.

Not surprisingly, access has increased but completion rates have remained dismal – with only 16.5% of students on average graduating with a three-year undergraduate degree within three years (the “regulation period”). Completion rates within regulation periods for three-year undergraduate degrees in STEM fields are particularly worrying, standing at 15% in physical sciences, 16% in computer and information sciences, 19% in engineering – and 11% in mathematics.  

Worse still, as the report points out, substantial numbers of students never graduate at all. This has devastating consequences for hundreds of thousands of young people. Students spend years pursuing qualifications, but often have to leave in the end without degrees or certificates, without useful technical skills and without the work experience that might help them find jobs.

Various reforms could and should be introduced to overcome these problems, as the report sets out. It also stresses that “the time has come to start thinking outside the box”. The ANC has thus far refused to embrace the workable solutions evident in other countries. But the ANC no longer speaks for the majority of South Africans.

The GNU must now take charge and set about implementing the reforms needed to help generate jobs and skills – and to put the country on the path to prosperity.

Media contact: Anthea Jeffery, IRR Head of Policy Research Tel: +27 11 482 7221; Email: ajj@irr.org.za

Media enquiries: Michael Morris, Head of Media Tel: +2766 302 1968 Email: michael@irr.org.za