Youth employment is one of the country’s most effective acts of service. Yet this year it has been left almost entirely unfunded. Mandela Day reminds us that service matters. But service cannot replace public investment.
CAPE TOWN — Every Mandela Day, millions of South Africans give 67 minutes in service of others. They paint classrooms, prepare meals, and clean parks. This year, youth-led advocacy organisation Youth Capital is asking for 67 seconds more. The ask is simple: sign the PEPs4Youth petition and tell the National Treasury to fund the public employment programmes that already put young people to work.
The evidence on youth employment is already in
Weeks ago, the Department of Basic Education launched its own review of the Basic Education Employment Initiative (BEEI). It is the largest youth employment programme in the country’s history. The review found the programme created nearly 1.3 million work opportunities in roughly 23,000 schools. It also eased teachers’ workloads and supported literacy. In fact, by early 2026, more than 21,000 former assistants had been absorbed into the Department. Four in five of them now work as teachers.
A budget that cut what works
Yet the 2026 National Budget cut the BEEI from R5.6 billion to R314 million. That allocation now covers administration, not the opportunities themselves. In one budget cycle, well over 200,000 posts were removed. Every unfunded post means one less classroom supported and one less young person earning an income. These are not abstract budget lines. They are choices that shape lives.
“South Africa already knows how to put young people to work. The government’s own review proves it,” says Buhlebethu Magwaza, Project Lead at Youth Capital. “We are not asking for charity. We are asking Treasury to fund work that is already being done, by the generation this country keeps calling its greatest asset.”
In the first quarter of 2026, around 9.5 million young South Africans aged 15 to 34 were not in employment, education or training. That is more than four in ten. When the BEEI last opened, in 2025, roughly 1.9 million young people applied for around 200,000 posts.
“Every time a real opportunity opens, young people arrive in their millions,” says Magwaza. “The shortage has never been willingness. It is opportunity. This Mandela Day, 67 seconds is enough to remind the government that it already has the evidence.”
What Youth Capital is asking for
Youth Capital is calling for a ring-fenced, multi-year guarantee of at least one million public employment opportunities every year. As a result, programmes like the BEEI, the Social Employment Fund, the Expanded Public Works Programme, the Community Work Programme and the National Youth Service could plan and grow with certainty.
The petition takes 67 seconds to sign: bit.ly/41VpfsL.
ENDS
Issued by Youth Capital
For media inquiries, please contact:
Sibabalwe Nobandla
Youth Capital Multimedia Strategist
Phone: +27 79 654 5387
Email: siba@youthcapital.co.za