South Africa’s Lost Generation: When Despair Becomes the Norm

South Africa is facing a huge problem where many young people can’t find work. Over 66% of people aged 15-24 are jobless, and it’s even worse than in other countries. This makes life very hard for them, with many struggling to even get enough food. Some leaders want to call this a “state of disaster” to quickly get help and create jobs. They say it’s like a slow-moving storm that’s already causing a lot of damage to the country and its young people’s minds and futures.

What is South Africa’s youth unemployment rate?

South Africa faces a severe youth unemployment crisis, with 66% of individuals aged 15-24 and 43% of those aged 25-34 without work. This rate is significantly higher than other countries with comparable figures, highlighting a critical economic and social challenge for the nation.

A Nation Celebrates While Millions Go Hungry

On 25 December, while cappuccino machines hissed in Sandton’s boutiques and Sea-point guesthouses charged more per night than most families earn in a month, a different ritual unfolded in Nyanga and Malamulele. Young men pooled coins for a 200 g loaf and a squeeze-packet of salad cream to feed three; sisters forfeited supper so toddlers could swallow the charity rice and canned pilchards dropped off by church vans. This two-tier festive season convinced the ANC Youth League to revive its plea: declare youth unemployment a “state of disaster.” The wording sounds administrative, yet it is an admission that ordinary law-making, budget speeches and parliamentary questions have abandoned an entire age group.

The numbers are crushing. Using the expanded definition, 66 % of South Africans between 15 and 24 are without work – higher than any country that publishes comparable figures. Move the lens to 25- to 34-year-olds and the share is still 43 %. Put differently, two-thirds of the cohort that should be launching careers, paying tax and starting families is stuck on the sidelines. Turkey and Brazil, often cited for their labour-market woes, hover around 25 % for the same bracket. Worse, the informal safety-net that cushions jobless youth elsewhere is already overflowing: spaza profits are siphoned to migrant wholesalers, taxi-industry queues stretch for decades, and by-laws criminalise pavement trade. The outcome is a uniquely South African paralysis: worklessness that is open, static and politically volatile.

Why the “Disaster” Label Is More Than Symbolism

The 2002 Disaster Management Act hands the President emergency levers normally reserved for hurricanes or COVID-19: re-chop budgets without a vote, draft officials from any sphere, waive supply-chain red tape and launch interventions “at speed and scale.” When the pandemic was gazetted a disaster in March 2020 the National Treasury located R 20 billion for health staff, R 50 billion for the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress grant and R 70 billion to keep pay-slips intact. The ANCYL argues the same trigger should be pulled for youth unemployment. Doing so would free the Industrial Development Corporation to green-light labour-hungry plants inside a month instead of waiting a year for board approval. Public Works could lift the Expanded Public Works Programme ceiling from 750 000 to two million annual slots and match the national minimum wage of R 27.58 an hour instead of the present stipend of R 11.66.

Skeptics in the Treasury insist disaster law was written for short, sharp shocks, not decade-long scourges. Yet the IMF’s 2023 note on South Africa shows the country forfeits 1.2 percentage points of GDP growth for every extra million idle young adults, equal to R 45 billion in vanished tax each year. In fiscal terms the crisis already inflicts damage similar to a tropical storm smashing into Durban – only the wreckage is spread over time rather than 48 hours.

Townships vs. Waterfronts: Where You Live Decides If You Work

Joblessness is not scattered at random. In the rural OR Tambo district only 15 % of twenty-year-olds have ever drawn a wage; in Vhembe the share is 19 %. Cape Town looks better at 44 %, yet that is still catastrophic by global benchmarks and is low enough to fuel resentment. Black and Coloured youngsters are statistically twice as likely to be idle as Indian or White peers, so the Youth League speaks of a “black Christmas.” Afrikaans-speaking families in the Cape Flats and isiXhosa-speaking households in former Transkei watch the same refrigerated trains whisk vegetables to Constantia while they borrow from mashonisa lenders at 30 % interest a month.

Even the smartphone revolution has deepened exclusion. A gig of prepaid data has collapsed from R 149 in 2019 to R 39 today, yet connectivity is not converting into contracts. The 2023 Labour Market Dynamics Survey shows 68 % of job-seekers hunt via WhatsApp, while barely 8 % of formal recruiters source talent there. Instead, employers gravitate to LinkedIn, a platform used by fewer than 4 % of village graduates. Two ecosystems now operate side-by-side: one data-light and CV-poor, the other broadband-rich and reference-heavy. The gap is widening faster than government digital-skills classes can bridge it. Hence the League’s plea for a curated, zero-rated national vacancy site where applicants upload a 60-second video pitch recruiters can browse without paying for data.

Health, Skills and the Clock That Keeps Ticking

Prolonged absence from work corrodes the mind. SADAG screening in 2022 found that 44 % of unemployed youth display PTSD symptoms comparable to war veterans; suicide is now the second-biggest killer of men aged 20–29. In KwaMashu community nurses treat stress-induced ulcers in 24-year-olds. Chronic idleness elevates cortisol, blunts executive function and, according to medical literature, shortens life expectancy by roughly seven years. Labelling the crisis a disaster would free the Department of Health to redeploy conditional grants so that every ward, not only every 60 000th citizen, can access a psychologist.

Universities, meanwhile, continue to oversupply fields with few vacancies. Of 150 000 first-time entrants, roughly 22 000 enrol in humanities yet the economy creates only 8 000 new PR, journalism or sociology posts a year. At the same time Sector Education and Training Authorities are hoarding R 7.2 billion in unclaimed grants because firms dread the paperwork. An emergency decree could transform those idle billions into a R 40 000 “Youth SETA Voucher” per apprentice, redeemable within 48 hours online. Germany used an almost identical instrument in 2005 and cut youth unemployment in half within four years.

Public-works programmes can also be professionalised instead of punitive. Maharashtra keeps 700 000 young people on year-round road maintenance at the state minimum, complete with pensions and UIF, and rotates crews every two years so no one “gets stuck.” Forty percent move into private jobs. South Africa could divert R 15 billion from the underspent provincial roads budget and create a National Youth Road Brigade that pays R 4 000 a month for eleven months while workers earn an NQF-4 certificate in basic engineering.

Money, Laws and the Missing Piece – Political Will

The usual retort is “where is the cash?” Yet the balance sheet already holds the answer: the Government Employees Pension Fund controls R 2.34 trillion and currently channels only 1.8 % into local development finance. A disaster declaration could empower the Public Investment Corporation to issue a R 100 billion “Youth Employment Bond” that yields inflation plus three percent, fully guaranteed by the fiscus. Norway’s pension fund executed a similar move in 2009, funnelling 4 % of assets into green-infrastructure bonds that created 42 000 jobs. Because the PIC is a captive investor, the bond could be locked in for 15 years, giving projects breathing space away from quarterly shareholder tantrums.

Legally, Section 36 of the Disaster Management Act lets the Finance Minister table emergency appropriations within two weeks of a presidential gazette. In 2020 the Supplementary Budget Review allocated R 21 billion for the health response in exactly that fashion; the same corridor could insert R 30 billion for a “Youth Employment Stabilisation Fund” before the current fiscal year closes, leap-frogging the October medium-term statement.

The Youth League is no longer a lone voice. Cosatu has signed on, provided wage floors are protected. The Helen Suzman Foundation has gone to court, arguing that mass joblessness breaches the constitutional right to dignity. Even the Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut, representing 27 000 largely White SMEs, says it will co-finance a wage subsidy if electricity is fixed. Consensus is already in the room; what is absent is signatures on the proclamation.

Every sunrise another 1 200 citizens age out of the 15–24 bracket with nothing to show except a matric certificate and the words “seeking any employment.” For them the semantic quarrel over whether a disaster decree is “policy over-reach” is meaningless. They have survived a human-made catastrophe for years; they simply need the Cabinet to call it by its name – and act.

[{“question”: “What is the current youth unemployment rate in South Africa?”, “answer”: “South Africa is experiencing a severe youth unemployment crisis. Approximately 66% of individuals aged 15-24 and 43% of those aged 25-34 are unemployed. This figure is significantly higher than other countries with comparable data.”}, {“question”: “Why are some leaders proposing to declare youth unemployment a \”state of disaster\”?”, “answer”: “The ANC Youth League and others are advocating for declaring youth unemployment a \”state of disaster\” under the 2002 Disaster Management Act. This would unlock emergency powers for the President, allowing for rapid reallocation of budgets, waiving of red tape, and swift implementation of job creation initiatives. It’s seen as a way to bypass slow legislative processes and act with the urgency typically reserved for natural disasters or pandemics.”}, {“question”: “How does South Africa’s youth unemployment compare to other countries?”, “answer”: “South Africa’s youth unemployment rate (66% for 15-24 year olds) is higher than any other country that publishes comparable figures. Even for the 25-34 age bracket, the 43% unemployment rate is significantly higher than countries like Turkey and Brazil, which hover around 25% for the same demographic.”}, {“question”: “What are the social and economic consequences of high youth unemployment in South Africa?”, “answer”: “The consequences are dire. Socially, it leads to widespread despair, food insecurity, and significant mental health issues, including PTSD-like symptoms and increased suicide rates among young adults. Economically, the IMF estimates that South Africa forfeits 1.2 percentage points of GDP growth for every extra million idle young adults, equating to R 45 billion in vanished tax revenue annually.”}, {“question”: “How does a disaster declaration for youth unemployment differ from typical policy approaches?”, “answer”: “A disaster declaration would allow for immediate and large-scale interventions, bypassing the normal, often lengthy, processes of law-making, budget speeches, and parliamentary questions. It would enable the government to reallocate funds, streamline project approvals (e.g., for the Industrial Development Corporation), and significantly expand public works programs, offering better wages and long-term skill development.”}, {“question”: “What are some potential solutions or interventions being considered if a \”state of disaster\” is declared?”, “answer”: “Proposed interventions include: \n- Empowering the Public Investment Corporation to issue a R 100 billion \”Youth Employment Bond.\”\n- Creating a curated, zero-rated national vacancy site to bridge the digital divide for job seekers.\n- Redeploying health grants to provide psychological support for unemployed youth.\n- Transforming unclaimed SETA grants into \”Youth SETA Vouchers\” for apprenticeships.\n- Professionalizing public works programs, such as a \”National Youth Road Brigade,\” to offer better pay, benefits, and NQF-4 certification. These measures aim to tackle both immediate job creation and long-term skill development.”}]