Opening remarks by Deputy Minister in The Presidency, Nonceba Mhlauli, on the release of the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI) Q1 2026/27 Quarterly Progress Report
Programme Director,
Members of the media,
Partners across the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention,
Colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning.
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the release of the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention Quarterly Progress Report for the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year, covering the period April to June 2026. Today’s report provides an account of the progress being made in responding to one of the most pressing challenges facing our country: youth unemployment and the difficulty many young South Africans face in moving from education and training into meaningful economic participation.
We understand that completing school, obtaining a qualification or acquiring skills does not automatically translate into access to the labour market. Many young people still need opportunities to gain experience, earn an income, develop skills, establish enterprises, or take their first steps into the world of work. It is in response to this challenge that the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention was launched in 2020.
The PYEI is a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder intervention designed to accelerate the transition of young people from learning to earning. It brings together Government departments, public entities, the private sector, civil society, and other partners to address the barriers young people face in accessing economic opportunities. At the centre of this approach is the National Pathway Management Network, which connects young people to different opportunities and forms of support through a national network.
Understanding "Earning Opportunities”
Before I turn to the progress made during the quarter, I want to clarify an important point about the terminology used in this report. When we refer to “earning opportunities,” we are referring to a range of opportunities that enable young people to earn income, gain workplace experience, participate in work-integrated learning or provide paid services. These include work-based placements, work-integrated learning, and paid-service opportunities, among others.
Therefore, when we report that more than 2.6 million temporary earning opportunities have been accessed since the inception of the PYEI, we are not claiming that 2.6 million permanent jobs have been created. We are reporting opportunities through which young people have been supported to participate economically, gain experience and move along a pathway towards sustainable earning. This distinction is important. For a young person who has never had the opportunity to enter a workplace, gain practical experience or earn an income, such an opportunity can provide an important bridge into further economic participation.
At the same time, we recognise that temporary opportunities alone cannot resolve South Africa’s youth unemployment challenge. This is why the PYEI also focuses on systems change, demand-led skills development, enterprise development, sustainable earning pathways and connecting young people to opportunities through a national network.
Progress during the first quarter
Turning to the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year, the PYEI recorded 139 693 earning opportunities secured by young people through the National Pathway Management Network. Of these, 106 093 opportunities were secured through SA Youth, while a further 33 600 earning and learning opportunities were secured through ESSA.
Let me briefly explain these platforms, because they are central to how young people access opportunities through the PYEI.
SA Youth is the platform through which young people can register, access information, and connect to services and opportunities within the National Pathway Management Network. During the quarter, SA Youth surpassed 6 million registered young people. Since the inception of the PYEI, more than 2.6 million earning opportunities have been secured through SA Youth. Importantly, close to 70% of opportunities have been accessed by young women, demonstrating the network’s contribution towards addressing gender disparities in access to economic opportunities.
The second platform is the Employment Services of South Africa system, or ESSA. ESSA forms part of the employment services infrastructure through which young people can register and access employment-related services and opportunities. By the end of the quarter, close to 5.7 million young people were registered on ESSA, with 386 733 opportunities secured through the system since inception. During the first quarter alone, ESSA recorded 33 600 earning and learning opportunities.
Workplace experience through YES
Another important area of progress is workplace experience.
The Youth Employment Service, or YES, is a private-sector-led initiative that provides young people with workplace experience opportunities across various sectors of the economy. During the first quarter, YES placed 5 244 young people into workplace experience opportunities. Since the inception of the PYEI, 233 393 workplace experience opportunities have been delivered, with 72% through YES and 28% through the Department of Higher Education and Training Sector Education and Training Authorities.
Workplace experience is important because qualifications alone do not always provide young people with the practical experience required to enter the labour market. The PYEI therefore places emphasis on creating pathways that allow young people to apply what they have learnt and develop practical workplace skills.
National Youth Service
We also made progress through the Revitalised National Youth Service. During the quarter, a further 2 866 young people were recruited into Phase 5 of the programme. This is the largest phase of the Revitalised National Youth Service to date and is recruiting 100 000 young people across South Africa. Since inception, the National Youth Service has provided 140 922 paid service opportunities across its five phases, with young women accounting for 68% of these opportunities.
Supporting young entrepreneurs
The PYEI also recognises that not every young person will enter the economy through a traditional employer-employee relationship. Enterprise development and self-employment are therefore important components of the intervention. During the first quarter, the National Youth Development Agency provided 5 214 enterprise support opportunities, consisting of 4 795 non-financial and 419 financial opportunities. Across the ecosystem, enterprise support opportunities have now reached 277 349 since inception.
Investing in innovation
We are also investing in new approaches to addressing the barriers young people face. The National Pathway Management Network Innovation Fund, led by the Department of Employment and Labour and administered by the Industrial Development Corporation, supports initiatives that test and scale innovative approaches to youth employment. During the quarter, R95 million was committed to the fourth Call for Proposals, with a focus on strengthening economic linkages in rural and marginalised communities, supporting sustainable earning, expanding participation by young people living with disabilities, and deepening the participation of civil society and youth-led organisations.
As of 30 June 2026, the Innovation Fund portfolio had facilitated access to more than 32 000 earning opportunities, with more than 52 000 unemployed young people registered across the Fund. One example highlighted in the report is Edunova, which is creating a digital pathway into self-employment for young people in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape. By the end of the quarter, Edunova had enrolled its full cohort of 600 young people, with micro learning completions reaching 108% of the project target and retention standing at 83%.
Progress against our overarching targets
The progress reported today must also be considered against the broader targets of the PYEI. The intervention set a target of engaging at least 5 million young people in the National Pathway Management Network. We have now exceeded that target, with more than 6 million young people registered and accessing opportunities through the network. The second target was to support young people to access 1.5 million temporary earning opportunities. To date, young people have accessed more than 2.6 million.
The third target is to engage 500 000 young people in sustainable earning opportunities through workforce development programmes. This remains a work in progress, with evaluations and tracing studies underway. This is an important measure of accountability. The impact of the PYEI cannot be assessed only by the number of young people who access an opportunity. We must also understand what happens afterwards: whether young people move into further opportunities, secure sustainable income, progress into employment or enterprise, and whether the pathways we are creating are helping young people build livelihoods.
The road ahead
As we enter the remainder of the 2026/27 financial year, our focus is twofold.
First, we will continue to scale initiatives that are demonstrating progress and ensure that more young people can access opportunities through the PYEI.
Second, we will strengthen the quality and sustainability of the pathways we create. Young people need pathways that are accessible, relevant, and connected to real opportunities in the economy. They need opportunities to gain experience, earn, develop skills, establish enterprises and progress towards sustainable livelihoods.
The PYEI cannot address youth unemployment alone. The scale and complexity of the challenge requires continued cooperation between Government, business, civil society, educational institutions, and other partners.
Government has a responsibility to ensure that the systems are in place to help young people navigate these opportunities and to remove unnecessary barriers wherever possible.
The first quarter of 2026/27 demonstrates continued progress, while also reminding us that significant work remains ahead.
As we reflect on 50 years since the 1976 Soweto Uprising, we are reminded of the role young people have played in shaping our country’s history and of our responsibility to ensure that young people are able to shape its economic future.
Our ambition is a South Africa where young people can participate in the economy with greater dignity, opportunity, and agency.
That is the purpose of the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention.
I thank you.
#GovZAUpdates
