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Unemployment is at crisis levels among the historically disadvantaged communities in South Africa. Unemployment is a condition that impacts the body, mind, and soul.
Residents of Eldorado Park, Klipspruit, Kliptown, and Slovo Park, as well as many others in communities across the country, face this situation. The unemployed customarily sit on street corners, and crowds are already gathered at 11:00 am on a normal workday. Youthful school dropouts and those who have matriculated meet at the corner to bask in the sun. The chat at these meetings invariably focuses on unemployment and what to do to overcome the condition.
The realities of being unemployed are discussed; many youths say that because money is so hard to come by parents scold them. It is quite normal to be told, “You are useless”, and “All you do is lie around and spend my money”.
Unemployment is so common in the areas of Eldorado Park, Klipspruit, Kliptown and Slovo Park, in nearly every household has one unemployed person. In some areas, an entire street has no one who is employed. There is always an eager anticipation of the budget speeches by the Minister of Finance in hopes that a more lasting solution will be shared. Taxes should be distributed to the relevant departments to create a variety of opportunities to create employment. Every time the same promise has been made but not fulfilled.
It has now been decades of failed temporary solutions offering learnerships, internships and 6-month contracts. Once completed, candidates find themselves in the job market again. Learnerships only require you to participate once. The opportunity, although very grateful to receive, provides you only a glimpse of what work is and also the collateral – some financial freedom – is like.
The dominant messaging in the last few years was that learners should complete all their studies even at the tertiary level, then opportunities would come begging. The reality could not be starker: A master’s degree candidate, an undergraduate degree holder, and a dropout candidate find themselves applying or evening working at the same office. Often, they have the same job description too. This is due to the high rate of unemployment. The government should not only invest in learnerships but run educational programmes that contribute to people’s development, giving them skills to improve their livelihoods.
Because of this massive unemployment and a desperation for jobs and skills, fly-by-night colleges take advantage of the communities and financially exploit them. Their courses are not SAQA-accredited.
Accredited institutions are not innocent either as they offer qualifications and expertise not aligned with the economy’s needs.
The leadership of the country does not care the extent to which unemployment affects the ordinary person. This condition carries impact not just financially but extends to the inability to maintain a household, to take care of yourself and your family. Your health and your family’s become compromised. This fact is exacerbated the fact that public healthcare regularly issues incorrect medication and makes incorrect diagnoses.
Working class people are on their own in a country where things get done according to who one knows. The politicians only remember working class communities when it is election season.
Whether you ate this morning or your last meal was several days ago does not matter; just ensure you cast your vote on the day.
This article is an opinion piece submitted on 25 May 2026. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect those of Karibu! Online or Khanya College. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
