Event: Cyril Ramaphosa

While it is true that “too many young people struggle to find their first job” (SONA), imposing the primary responsibility on young people to ‘do better’, by completing well-meaning programmes designed by adults who know what is best, absolves institutions of the responsibility to re-think their assumptions, approaches, and programming to more effectively address structural challenges. (Oupa Nkosi) In his 2026 State of the Nation address, President Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted South Africa’s ongoing unemployment crisis and particularly its effects on young people. The concern for and commitment to improving the lives of South African youth is welcome and needed. What is missed, however, when youth are viewed solely through the lens of their economic (in)activities, or a problem to be solved through a pipeline from training, to skills acquisition, to employability, fuelled by a tech-enabled and digital “revolution”? And, what creative opportunities for more holistic social, cultural, and economic wellbeing are not yet being leveraged? In Q1 2025, StatsSA reported a youth unemployment rate (for ages 15-34) of 46.1%, or 4.8 million young people. If the focus is narrowed to young people under 24, many of whom are looking for first jobs, this rate rises to a worrying 58%. Young people who are “NEET” (not in employment, education and training) and not actively seeking to change this, are often called “inactive”. Definitions of economic “inactivity” are shifting in response to growing recognition of informal economies, but this framework still has some glaring blind spots. While decent work and financial security are crucial, we caution against only articulating the value of young people through their economic action, contribution, or as the backbone of future economies. The ‘NOT’ in NEET is very loud and risks us perceiving young people solely as what they “lack”, without regard for their agency, creativity, cultural presence…