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Programme Director,

Honourable Premier, Mr Panyaza Lesufi,

DEL Acting Director General, staff and sister departments,

Mayor's representative – MMC Corporate Services and Shared Services Ms Kholofelo Morodi,

Ward Councillor Ms Dudu Majola,

PCO MP/MPL Chief Whip Mashola,

Leadership of Gauteng Province,

Social partners, business leaders, organised labour,

Young people of Gauteng,

Today, we converge here at the Saulsville Arena in Atteridgeville to ignite Gauteng's labour market with purpose, investment, and a bold commitment to opportunity. Under the theme “The Year of Putting Young South Africans to Work, in Honour of the 1976 Youth", we are executing a major strike against unemployment.

In 1976, the youth of this country confronted injustice with courage, clarity and conviction. They refused to inherit a system designed to exclude them. They demanded dignity. They demanded opportunity. They demanded a future.

Today, we stand on their shoulders.

We must confront today's reality with honesty. The defining injustice facing young South Africans now is not political disenfranchisement—it is economic exclusion. Youth unemployment remains unacceptably high. Too many young people remain outside the labour market. Too many are vulnerable to substance abuse, crime, and despair because economic participation has been delayed or denied.

This is not merely a labour market issue. It is a national stability issue.

According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey, Quarter 4 of 2025, our country has begun to see a modest improvement of labour market. We have not witnessed this level of positive momentum since 2020. Here in Gauteng, the story is equally important. The province recorded a modest but notable decline in its unemployment rate — roughly a third of a percentage point between the third and fourth quarters. Now, some may dismiss that as small. But in a province of this scale, any directional shift tells us something critical: the market is beginning to respond. Confidence is slowly re-emerging. The labour force is starting to find its footing again.

Today, the challenge is compounded by global instability. We are operating in a period of heightened geopolitical tensions. Ongoing conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, USA trade tensions, supply chain fragmentation, energy market volatility, trade protectionism, and shifting global alliances are exerting downward pressure on emerging economies.

South Africa does not exist in isolation. When global demand slows, our manufacturing contracts. When energy markets fluctuate, production costs rise. When investor confidence is shaken globally, domestic investment pipelines are affected.

These external shocks have translated into economic strain—slower growth, constrained fiscal space, and fragile employment expansion. But we cannot allow global turbulence to paralyse domestic reform.

That is why today matters.

The Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) has ignited the Gauteng labour market with a R1.5 billion skills and employment investment under the Labour Activation Programme (LAP). We unlock 30 876 high-impact training and workplace opportunities translating the 1976 memory into movement. Today we honour the youth not with slogans—but with opportunities.

Gauteng accounts for more than a third of South Africa's GDP. It is home to the financial services hub, advanced manufacturing clusters, logistics corridors, the OR Tambo gateway to Africa, and a rapidly expanding digital services economy. Yet despite its economic scale, youth unemployment remains elevated. This tells us one thing clearly: growth without inclusion is not enough.

The Gauteng Growth and Development Vision position the province as a globally competitive city-region anchored in reindustrialisation, infrastructure renewal, township economy revitalisation, green transition and digital innovation. These are not distant aspirations. They are actionable levers.

Compatriots, let me also affirm that this rollout is not only happening in Atteridgeville — it is province and country-wide intervention. In this province, Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, West Rand and Sedibeng are all direct beneficiaries of this R1.5 billion injection. Whether it is pothole repairs in Johannesburg, jewellery manufacturing training in Ekurhuleni, agricultural training in Midvaal and Tshwane, engineering in Germiston, or call centre development in Randburg and Soweto — LAP is touching every corner of this province.

This investment spans agriculture, construction and infrastructure maintenance, cleaning and security services, ICT and business administration, wholesale and retail, call centre operations, social and community services, technical trades, manufacturing and entrepreneurship. These are sectors that drive GDP. These are sectors that absorb labour. These are sectors that build economies.

Through the Labour Activation Programme, we are bridging the structural gap between raw potential and industrial demand. This programme is not merely about classroom learning. It is about workplace exposure. It is about productivity. It is about employability. We are injecting skilled human capital precisely where the economy is growing.

Our momentum as the Department of Employment and Labour gained undeniable reinforcement during the State of the Nation Address, where His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa placed job creation at the very centre of the national agenda. The President was clear: this administration's priority is to push South Africa into a new cycle of inclusive growth, driven by infrastructure rollout, localisation, industrial financing, SMME acceleration, energy reform, and the recovery of our logistics corridors.

But what truly resonated for us as the custodians of labour market governance was the President's bold announcement of 10 000 additional permanent labour inspectors. This is a structural intervention that we so welcome. Most significantly these are direct jobs for the youth. Be on the lookout for the adverts and be part of the big change.

This announcement aligns directly with the significant investment we made during our first 100 days in office, where we launched the 20 000 two-year Labour Inspectorate Internship Programme — the largest capacity-building initiative ever undertaken by the Department. I am pleased to report today that over 3 000 young recruits have already begun their deployment, entering workplaces, strengthening our inspection footprint, and gaining practical skills that position them for long-term employability.

The combination of the President's 10 000 permanent inspectors and our 20 000-intern pipeline represent the most ambitious inspectorate expansion in democratic history. It gives us the firepower to enhance enforcement, boost compliance, and create a predictable environment for both workers and employers. It ensures that decent work is not just a policy aspiration but a lived reality on the ground.

The Department of Employment and Labour is repositioning itself not simply as a regulator, but as a true labour-market catalyst — and the reimagined Labour Activation Programme sits at the heart of this transformation. We are shifting LAP toward a demand-led skills model, where training is no longer generic or supply-driven, but laser-aligned to the real needs of industry. This is how we close the stubborn skills mismatch that has held back our young people for too long. And as part of this new direction, we are scaling the TVET learner placement programme through integrated learning, ensuring that thousands of TVET students gain real workplace exposure, practical experience, and direct pathways into employment. This is about giving young South Africans more than training — it is about giving them a fighting chance. Through LAP, we are building a system that responds to employer demand, strengthens productivity, and opens doors that were once closed. Hope is not abstract; it is practical, measurable, and visible in the opportunities we are unlocking. And today, we can say with confidence: South Africa's labour market is on the move, and our young people are firmly at the centre of that renewal.

Through our Public Employment Services, we are improving how work-seekers are connected to real opportunities- these services are available here today- please make use of this opportunity. The Unemployment Insurance Fund and its TERS interventions protected millions of jobs during recent shocks, while the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration continues to uphold labour stability. Productivity SA drives enterprise competitiveness, and Supported Employment Enterprises advances inclusive industrial participation. Together, these institutions strengthen our labour market's resilience, stability, and ability to open doors for more South Africans.

As we roll out these Labour Activation Projects, we do so at a moment when our policy ecosystem is shifting decisively. Two major reforms — the Labour Law Amendment Bill, 2025 and the Labour Relations Amendment Bill, 2025 — are moving into full public consultation, marking a decisive reset of our labour-market architecture. These Bills respond to a world of work that has outpaced outdated frameworks: platform work, on-call jobs, shifting parenting norms, and constraints on small enterprise growth all demand a modern rulebook.

The Labour Law Amendment Bill closes long-standing gaps by recognising gig workers as employees, regulating on-call work, introducing gender-neutral parental leave, and strengthening income protection through higher severance pay and tighter enforcement of unpaid contributions. It also expands harassment protections and simplifies compliance through a single unified certificate.

The Labour Relations Amendment Bill focuses on boosting enterprise dynamism and bargaining integrity. It exempts young small businesses from bargaining council agreements, modernises closed shop arrangements, professionalises strike governance, streamlines executive and probation dismissals, and gives dependent contractors clearer organising rights.

Together, these reforms modernise worker protections, clear barriers to business growth, and create a more responsive labour-market environment. And as we activate LAP on the ground, we translate these policy shifts into real impact — equipping people with demand-led skills, improving job matching, and preparing South Africans for the opportunities of a rapidly evolving economy. I encourage you to be on the lookout and participate in this process.

Gauteng has strategic advantages unmatched on the continent:
Integrated transport networks. Financial depth. Industrial capacity. A young and dynamic population. Proximity to regional markets. Digital infrastructure backbone.

If we align skills, investment, and industrial policy, this province can reduce youth unemployment decisively within this decade.

But we must move faster. We must move smarter. We must eliminate bureaucratic friction. We must scale what works. To our implementing partners and employers: this is not an act of goodwill — this is economic strategy. This program must achieve its objectives. Absorb and/or place these young people in sustainable jobs, mentor them, integrate them into your operations, and build the talent pipeline.

And now, to the young people of Gauteng — let me speak to you directly.

The youth of 1976 confronted injustice with resolve. The youth of today must confront unemployment with innovation
You are not a lost generation.

You are the spark, the creativity, the innovation engine that will define South Africa's next chapter.

But potential only becomes power when discipline meets opportunity, when skills meet commitment, and when investment meets accountability. The R1.5 billion we are activating today is not charity — it is public money, your country's investment in your future. And it must deliver the jobs we envisage, strengthen productivity, grow enterprises and stabilise communities.

And today, we are putting the wind at your back. Go and claim the opportunities being unlocked. The province is moving, the labour market is shifting, and you are at the centre of the story we are building together.

Compatriots,

Let this be remembered as the year we moved from commemoration to transformation. The year we moved from rhetoric to results. The year we put young South Africans to work at scale.

In honour of 1976, we commit not only to remembering their courage—but to completing their mission.

Economic justice.
Dignified work.
Inclusive growth.
A future earned, not inherited.

Gauteng, let us ignite.
South Africa, let us build.
Youth of 2026, your moment is now.

I thank you.

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