Ramaphosa Calls on Private Sector to Hire Youth at 50th Soweto Uprising Commemoration

Mpho Dube
10 hours ago
3 min read

President Cyril Ramaphosa walks along the red carpet past wreaths laid at the Hector Pieterson Memorial in Soweto, June 16, 2026. Leaders paid tribute to the students killed during the 1976 uprising. “Let us honour them not in words alone, but in deeds,” Ramaphosa said. #YouthDay2026 #HectorPieterson_

By Mpho Dube, Editor-in-Chief

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JOHANNESBURG— President Cyril Ramaphosa used the 50th anniversary of the June 16, 1976 Soweto Uprising to call on corporate South Africa to employ young people, saying government is prepared to share the cost of bringing first-time workers into jobs.

Speaking outside Soccer City in Nasrec on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, Ramaphosa said South Africa’s 12 million unemployed youth had untapped potential that must be unlocked.

“So, the young people of our country are saying, give us an opportunity. Allow us to demonstrate what we are capable of. I am asking the private sector to open the doors. The doors of employment. The government has opened the doors to learning,” Ramaphosa said.

He told the gathering that youth unemployment remained one of government’s top priorities. According to Statistics South Africa’s Quarter 1 2026 Labour Force Survey, unemployment for those aged 15-24 exceeds 60%, while overall youth unemployment stands at 45.8%.

“We are not alone as South Africa carrying the burden of unemployment,” Ramaphosa said. “Many other countries, especially on our continent, are carrying the same burden.”

The President said government would incentivise hiring through schemes such as the employment tax incentive. “Through this initiative, we share the cost of bringing young people into their first job. This is crucial, as the first job is often the hardest to get and carries significant importance for young people's lives.”

He urged employers to reconsider hiring practices that require previous experience. “The pathway to employment should not be barricaded by such limitations,” he said.

Ramaphosa pointed to existing state programmes aimed at job creation, including the Labour Activation Programme and the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative.

He said more than 5.7 million young people are now registered on the SA Youth mobi platform, with over two million having gained access to earning opportunities.

“As young people flight their own CVs and details on that platform, employers across the country are able to see what their capabilities are,” he said.

Minister of Employment and Labour Nomakhosazana Meth has previously described youth unemployment figures as persistently high, saying her department is enhancing coordination of employment interventions, including support for the PYEI.

Ramaphosa linked the current youth struggle to the legacy of 1976. “Our progress as a nation must be measured by whether young people are moving from school to skills, from skills to work, and from enterprise support to markets, to scale, and to ownership,” he said.

“This is how we honour the youth of 1976 — by building a South Africa in which every young person has a fair chance to learn, to work, to earn, to serve, to build, to create, to own, and to live with dignity.”

The President said today’s generation has tools the youth of 1976 did not have, including technology and platforms that can connect communities and build enterprises.

“Let us honour them not in words alone, but in deeds,” Ramaphosa said. “The youth of 1976 fought against exclusion; today, South Africa is confronting unemployment, poverty and inequality.”

This year’s Youth Day marks 50 years since the Soweto Uprising, 70 years since the 1956 Women’s March, and 30 years since the adoption of the democratic Constitution in 1996.