Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Mmapaseka Steve Letsike has challenged South African businesses to open their doors to more young people and create meaningful pathways from education and training into employment.
Delivering her keynote address at the recent 80th anniversary celebration of Aberdare Cables in Johannesburg, Letsike said industry has a critical role to play in addressing youth unemployment and ensuring that South Africa’s industrial development translates into opportunities for young people.
She said the 80-year history of Aberdare Cables demonstrated resilience, adaptation and innovation, noting that the company has become part of South Africa’s industrial development through its contribution to infrastructure, telecommunications, mining and broader economic activity.
Aberdare Cables currently operates manufacturing facilities in Pietermaritzburg, Gqeberha and Gauteng, and directly employs approximately 1 150 South Africans, while supporting additional livelihoods through its suppliers and broader value chain.
However, Letsike said anniversaries should also prompt reflection on the future, particularly on how young people can become central to South Africa’s next chapter of industrialisation.
“We cannot speak about the future of South African industry without speaking about the future of South Africa's youth. We cannot speak about industrialisation without speaking about skills.
“We cannot speak about infrastructure development without asking who will build, install, maintain, manufacture and innovate the infrastructure of tomorrow, and we cannot celebrate successful South African companies without asking how we bring more young South Africans into those companies,” Letsike said.
According to Letsike, too many young people remain outside employment, education and training, while employers continue to report difficulties in finding workers with the necessary skills and workplace experience.
She said government and industry must work together to close the gap between education and employment.
“We therefore have a responsibility to close the distance between the classroom and the factory floor, between training and employment, and between qualifications and economic opportunity,” Letsike said.
The Deputy Minister called on industry to create more opportunities, particular for graduates from Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, noting these institutions are producing artisans, technicians and graduates with skills that should support South Africa’s industrialisation programme.
“These young people need more than certificates. They need workplaces, mentors, practical experience, and their first opportunity to prove what they can do.”
Letsike urged businesses to strengthen workplace-based learning, internships, apprenticeships, learnerships and graduate placement opportunities, while also working with government and training institutions to identify current and future skills shortages.
She said skills development should be driven by actual and emerging economic demand, including the requirements arising from the energy transition, digitalisation, automation and advanced manufacturing.
The Deputy Minister also encouraged manufacturing and infrastructure companies to participate in the Youth Employment Service (YES) programme and work with Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator and other organisations supporting young people into employment.
She challenged companies to increase the number of young people they accommodate, saying businesses should take on as many young people as they have capacity for and, where permanent employment is not immediately possible, provide meaningful workplace experience.
“The first opportunity is often the hardest opportunity for a young person to secure. Industry can change that, the Deputy Minister said, emphasising that young people are not seeking charity but access to opportunities to demonstrate their skills, creativity, discipline and potential.
Letsike also highlighted government’s efforts to link skills development with emerging economic opportunities.
She cited a partnership with the Energy and Water Sector Education and Training Authority (EWSETA), through which 22 young women from rural provinces, including Limpopo, North West and the Free State, received training in India under the Solar Mamas programme.
The programme equipped the young women with practical skills in renewable energy design, manufacturing, installation and maintenance.
Letsike said South Africa must deliberately position young people, particularly young women and persons with disabilities, in sectors expected to shape the country’s economic future.
These include renewable energy, digital technology, advanced manufacturing, infrastructure, telecommunications, engineering, artificial intelligence and automation.
“These cannot become industries in which young South Africans merely consume technology produced elsewhere. Our young people must design, manufacture, install, maintain and ultimately own businesses within these value chains,” Letsike said.
Letsike said the department is also coordinating work around Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) skills to enable young people to participate meaningfully in the digital economy.
However, she warned that training on its own is insufficient if young people did not have access to employment opportunities.
“A certificate without an opportunity does not transform a life.”
The also urged businesses to view their long-term legacy, not only in terms of production, expansion and markets, but also through the lives transformed by the opportunities they create.
“Let us build an industrial economy in which women, youth and persons with disabilities are not standing at the margins waiting for opportunity, but are at the centre of producing, innovating, leading and owning,” Letsike said.
She congratulated Aberdare Cables on its 80th anniversary and called for the company’s next eight decades to be defined not only by what it manufactures, but by the people and opportunities it helps build. – SAnews.gov.za
