Honourable Chairperson and Honourable Members;
Deputy Ministers of Employment and Labour, DM Judith Nemadzinga-Tshabalala and DM Jomo Sibiya;
Acting Director-General, Ms. Jacky Molisane;
Deputy Directors-General of our Department;
Chairpersons and CEOs of our Entities;
Our National and International social partners;
Fellow South Africans,
We table this Budget Vote of the Department of Employment and Labour at a moment of both difficulty, determination, urgency and action for our country.
As the National Council of Provinces, this House understands better than most that the realities of our labour market differs across provinces. Our budget and targets therefore reflect both the diversity of provincial economies and the principle of equitable development. Provinces with the largest populations and economic output naturally carry the largest share of our targets, reflecting the scale of economic activity and labour market demand within their jurisdictions. At the same time, we have been deliberate in ensuring that smaller provinces are not neglected. The Northern Cape, North West, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Free State each have dedicated interventions and targets that respond to their unique labour market conditions, including rural unemployment, geographic dispersion, limited economic opportunities and barriers to labour market access.
This balanced approach demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that the services of the Department, and its entities reach workers, work-seekers, employers and communities in every province of our Republic. Whether in our major metropolitan centres, mining communities, farming districts or remote rural areas, our objective remains the same: to expand access to decent work, strengthen labour market institutions, enforce compliance with labour legislation and contribute meaningfully to economic inclusion.
This Budget Vote is therefore not merely an allocation of resources. It is an investment in the dignity of work, the protection of workers, and the development of a labour market that serves all South Africans, regardless of where they live.
This a defining time in South Africa, where on one hand, we are seeing real signs of economic stabilization our electricity supply is improving and investor confidence is renewing. On the other hand, despite periods of economic growth over the past approximately two decades, South Africa has failed to generate sufficient employment opportunities for young people. By 2024, about one million people entered the labour market, yet only around 40% secured stable employment, while the remainder either survived through precarious work or joined the growing ranks of the long-term unemployed. This reflects a broader “missing jobs crisis" in which the economy is simply not generating sufficient decent work opportunities at the scale required. Government and social partners therefore have a responsibility to intervene strategically through active labour market programmes, public employment initiatives and stronger partnerships with business and labour to create sustainable pathways into work, livelihoods and economic inclusion.
Honourable Chairperson,
In 1976, the youth of South Africa rose against exclusion and the denial of opportunity. As we honour their sacrifice, we have declared 2026 as “The Year of Putting Young South Africans to Work, in Honour of the 1976 Youth in Commemoration of the Youth Uprising Golden Jubilee." This is a national commitment to place youth employment, skills, workplace experience and economic participation at the centre of government, business and society.
The latest data shows that our official unemployment rate is at 32.7%, the largest increases were recorded in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the Northern Cape, highlighting the vulnerability of provinces where economic opportunities are more limited and labour markets are less diversified. By contrast, KwaZulu-Natal was the only province to record an increase in employment, demonstrating that labour market outcomes can differ considerably across provinces and require tailored responses. However, this increase follows two consecutive quarterly declines recorded during the second half of 2025, when the unemployment rate fell from 33.2% in the second quarter of 2025 to 31.9% in the third quarter and further down to 31.4% in the fourth quarter of 2025. Significantly, the 31.4% recorded in the last quarter of 2025 represented the lowest unemployment rate since the third quarter of 2020, signalling modest but important progress in stabilising the labour market.
The work that we will undertake in the 2026/27 financial year is backed by significant public investment. The Department of Employment and Labour has been allocated a budget of R4.578 billion (four billion five hundred and seventy-eight million rand), representing a 10.2 per cent increase from the previous financial year and reflecting a deliberate realignment of resources towards employment creation, labour market activation and improved service delivery.
This allocation is complemented by the R41 billion (forty-one billion rand) budget of the Unemployment Insurance Fund, which continues to provide critical income support while investing in programmes that facilitate the reintegration of work-seekers into the economy. In addition, the Compensation Fund's budget of R28 billion (twenty-eight billion rand) will strengthen social protection for workers and support the Fund's ongoing institutional modernisation. Collectively, these resources position the Department and its entities to respond decisively to the unemployment crisis while advancing economic inclusion, worker protection and social justice.
We have repurposed the Labour Activation Programme (LAP), which serves as our flagship intervention to help unemployed South Africans access opportunities, acquire skills and enter the world of work. The LAP has been an important intervention over the years, but a review of the programme revealed that it was not achieving the scale and impact required to respond effectively to South Africa's unemployment crisis.
The reviewed LAP strategy under employability, is now centred on three focused pillars aimed at providing demand led skills, labour market absorption, strengthening workplace experience and supporting enterprise-led job creation.
The first pillar focuses on demand-led skills development aligned to the needs of the labour market. Working in partnership with business, public entities and training institutions, we are ensuring that training programmes are directed towards scarce and critical skills that are required by the economy and that improve the prospects of employment absorption.
The second pillar prioritises the placement of graduates, TVET students and learners from higher education and training institutions into internships and work-integrated learning opportunities so that they can complete their qualifications and gain the workplace exposure necessary to enter the labour market.
The target is to recruit 200 000 (two hundred thousand) unemployed people in the current financial year alone. Of those, we will be placing 20 000 (twenty thousand) TVET students on work integrated learning (WIL), Chartered Financial Analysts (CFAs), Chartered Accountants, Professional Technicians and Engineers, Law Students and Health Inspectors. In addition, we will train 10 000 (ten thousand) youth on digital skills and 10 000 (ten thousand) for Driver's License. Importantly, 70% of all opportunities will be directed towards the youth, reflecting a deliberate commitment to address the plight of unemployed young people.
The third pillar focuses on intervention support for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through blended finance mechanisms aimed at stimulating economic activity, supporting business growth and expanding job creation. Through these targeted interventions, the LAP is being reshaped into a more responsive instrument for employment creation, economic inclusion and sustainable livelihoods.
We have budgeted R36.6 billion (Thirty-six billion six hundred million rand) over the MTEF. We call on all employers to partner with us and open opportunities to place young South Africans to either complete their studies or for first time work experience, through internships.
Honourable members,
DEL's mandate is to inspect and enforce labour laws. The inspection capacity currently is under strain wherein there are only 2300 inspectors to inspect over 2 million companies in the country. KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng account for the largest share of inspections. Together, these two provinces represent over 40 per cent of all inspections nationally, reflecting the size of their economies, their concentration of workplaces and the need for sustained compliance monitoring.
It is for this reason that the Department has embarked on the largest phased expansion of labour inspection capacity in democratic South Africa through Project 20 000. We are also embarking on the recruitment of 10 000 permanent labour inspectors announced during this years State of the Nation Address. This is one of the most significant expansions of labour market enforcement capacity in democratic South Africa. This intervention expands and rebuilds the state enforcement capability to ensure that labour rights are not theoretical rights, but rights defended on the factory floor, on farms, in restaurants, warehouses, mines, construction sites and across every workplace in our economy. We have set aside 5 billion rand (Five Billion Rand) for the MTEF period and will engage National Treasury regarding funding the permanent inspectors. We plan to modernise labour inspection systems through hybrid inspections that leverage digitisation and smart technology to improve and strengthen compliance monitoring across workplaces.
Public Employment Services is a frontline instrument in the fight against unemployment where millions of work seekers face exclusion not only because of the shortage of jobs, but because of distance, cost, information barriers and fragmented systems, access itself becomes a matter of justice.
The Department has built Employment Services South Africa (ESSA), the largest government work-seeker database in the country. Employers must utilise the ESSA online system, which can be accessed via www.labour.gov.za to directly recruit and match with unemployed work seekers, whether they require chefs, waiters, drivers, plumbers, artisans, etc.
During 2026/27 financial year, the Department targets to register more than 1 million work-seekers on ESSA. Gauteng alone is expected to register 241 500 work-seekers, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 157 500, the Western Cape with 126 000 and the Eastern Cape with 115 500 to mention a few. These figures illustrate both the magnitude of labour market demand and the importance of maintaining a responsive and accessible employment services system capable of connecting work-seekers to opportunities.
As part of advancing more coherent and impactful Public Employment Programmes, I have approved the progression of the Public Employment Programmes Review Report to the DG Clusters and Cabinet processes. The report is informed by the need to strengthen coordination, planning and implementation of approximately 106 Public Employment Programmes introduced since 1994. Upon completion of the approval processes, the report will be released for public comment as part of advancing a more coherent and impactful Public Employment Programmes Framework.
R350 million (three hundred and fifty million rand) has been committed to the Government and Business partnership, working with the Presidency and the National Pathway Management Network to place 130 000 (one hundred and thirty thousand) young people, into learning opportunities, work exposure programmes and employment interventions. In addition, R95 million (ninety-five million rand) has been committed to the IDC to support Youth Employment Innovation Projects aimed at placing 7 000 (seven thousand) young people into productive economic activity.
One of the interventions supported through this programme has been the Teacher Assistants Programme. During the 2025/26 financial year, over 158 000 (one hundred and fifty-eight thousand) opportunities were created. We funded this programme with R4 billion (four billion Rand) as part of LAP.
Honourable Members,
Through the Nedlac process, the Labour Laws Amendment Bill propose critical reforms to the Labour Relations Act, Basic Conditions of Employment Act, National Minimum Wage Act and Employment Equity Act. These changes are aimed at strengthening worker protection, improving dispute resolution, reducing unnecessary compliance burdens for small businesses and aligning legislation with Constitutional Court and Labour Court judgments.
Progress is already measurable. The Labour Laws Amendment Bill was approved by Cabinet for public comment and published in the Government Gazette on 27 February 2026, generating 216 public submissions currently under review. In parallel, the UIF and Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Amendment Bills have successfully passed the Socio-Economic Impact Assessment System (SEIAS) process. The UIF Bill has also received certification from the Chief State Law Advisor, with both reform processes continuing through cluster and Cabinet approval stages.
Since its introduction, the National Minimum Wage has benefited an estimated six million workers.
Following the promulgation of the Employment Equity Amendment Act and the introduction of sectoral numerical targets,n 1 January 2025, more than 14 000 (fourteen thousand) designated employers submitted Employment Equity reports, while over 11 000 (eleven thousand) non-designated employers applied for Compliance Certificates.
In the 2025/26 financial year, the Department targeted 3 324 (three thousand, three hundred and twenty-four) Employment Equity inspections, including Director-General Reviews, re-assessments, and monitoring interventions. A total of 1 948 (one thousand, nine hundred and forty-eight) employers were reviewed and served with recommendations. Of these, only 181 employers were found compliant, representing a compliance rate of 9 percent, while 1 767 (one thousand, seven hundred and sixty-seven) employers were found to be non-compliant and were issued with recommendations for corrective action.
During the 2025/26 financial year, the UIF through TERS had supported 30 companies with approximately R295 million (two hundred and ninety-five million rands), saving more than 9 300 (nine thousand three hundred) jobs during a period of economic pressure. This intervention demonstrates the Fund's critical role in sustaining businesses, protecting workers and strengthening economic resilience. The performance of TERS has been below satisfactory. We will strengthen operational efficiency, improve turnaround times and enhance capacity to support companies in distress and preserve jobs. Ther TERS allocation for 2026/27 is R2.4 billion (two billion and four hundred million rand).
The Compensation Fund also continues to invest in the future of our youth through a R300 million (three hundred million rand) bursary programme that currently supports about 4 000 (four thousand) students in scarce skills qualifications across South African universities
Honourable Chair,
Supported Employment Enterprises is the only state manufacturing entity whose core mandate is the large-scale employment of persons with disabilities. I therefore want to challenge Ministers, Premiers, MECs, Mayors and all leaders across government to actively approach the National Treasury to seek for an exemption that will enable them to procure from Supported Employment Enterprises. Whether it is office furniture, school furniture, hospital linen, bedding, protective clothing or institutional textiles, government must use its own procurement muscle to support enterprises that employ persons with disabilities. Public procurement must become an instrument of social transformation, not merely a compliance exercise.
The work of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) continues to demonstrate the strategic importance of social compacting in a democracy such as ours. Nedlac during 2025/2026 facilitated extensive engagements on labour law reforms, resulting in the finalisation of amendments to key labour legislation, which are now before Parliament. These reforms are expected to strengthen labour market protections, advance workplace transformation, improve fairness in employment practices and enhance labour market resilience.
Productivity SA is being repositioned as a strategic delivery arm for productivity-driven growth, enterprise sustainability and job retention, particularly for SMMEs and vulnerable enterprises. The institution continues to build on positive momentum from the previous financial year, where targets related to enterprise support, skills development and job retention were exceeded.
In the current financial year, Productivity SA aims to support more than 1 300 enterprises, capacitate 2 500 workers and managers, develop 350 productivity champions and save approximately 4 000 jobs through turnaround interventions.
The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) is increasingly becoming a proactive institution focused on conflict prevention, strengthening collective bargaining, and contributing to job retention.
In the current year, it targets the resolution of 99% of cases within prescribed timeframes and seeks to address 90% of public interest disputes while supporting the preservation of jobs during retrenchment processes.
IN CONCLUSION
Honourable Members, in a constrained fiscal environment, the challenge of unemployment may be national, but its impact is felt locally in every province, municipality and community across our country. This budget reflects a deliberate choice to direct resources where they can make the greatest impact in jobs, protection, enforcement, and reform, while building a more capable, ethical, and developmental state, which is our third priority in the country's Medium-Term Development Plan (2024–2029).
I therefore present to this House the Budget Vote 31 (thirty-one) as a statement of national purpose to build a labour market, and an economy, that works for all our people.
I appreciate support of the Deputy Minister's, the Select Committee, my Special Advisors, DG and the entire DEL family executives, and the entire team in my office, who spent sleepless nights contributing towards finalisation of this budget vote speech.
I thank you!
© 2019 - The South African Department of Employment & Labour
