Dube-Ncube tells 3 000 matrics the world is not running out of work, it is changing the work it needs
The Deputy Minister used a mass prayer in Pietermaritzburg to push TVET colleges and artisan careers as youth unemployment sits at 47,4%.
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister Nomusa Dube-Ncube has urged the Matric Class of 2026 to aim at careers that match a changing labour market, naming technology, renewable energy, infrastructure, healthcare and agriculture as fields where the work is moving.
She made the call at an annual mass prayer for Grade 12 learners in Pietermaritzburg, in the uMgungundlovu District, held on Thursday. The event brought together stakeholders involved in preparing the Class of 2026 for the National Senior Certificate examinations and for what comes after school.
Speaking to about 3 000 Grade 12 learners, Dube-Ncube said young people needed to make informed decisions about their post-school studies to improve their chances of employment.
She pointed to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, which projects that 170 million new jobs will be created globally by 2030 while 92 million will disappear, a net gain of 78 million jobs.
“Think about that. The world is not running out of work. It is changing the kind of work it needs,” she said.
According to the report, demand is growing for big data specialists, financial technology engineers, artificial intelligence and machine learning specialists, software developers, cybersecurity specialists, renewable energy engineers and environmental engineers.
Dube-Ncube encouraged learners to consider technical and artisan careers, saying the future of work will increasingly require practical skills combined with technological knowledge.
“The trade your grandfather practised with his hands is now practised with his hands and a tablet. The artisan of the future is also a technologist,” she said.
She noted South Africa’s participation at the 48th WorldSkills International Competition in Shanghai, China, where 29 young competitors represented the country across 27 skills categories. She held up Matthew Bowen’s silver medal in Aircraft Maintenance, where he was named Best of Nation, as an example of what the country’s skills development system can produce.
The Deputy Minister stressed the role of technical and vocational education and training colleges in preparing young people for the labour market. She cited uMgungundlovu TVET College’s programmes in electrical engineering and solar photovoltaic installation as training aligned with the country’s energy needs.
She urged learners not to treat TVET colleges as a second choice to universities, but as a pathway to employment and economic participation in its own right. She also encouraged them to strengthen their Mathematics and Physical Sciences results, saying those subjects open doors to science, engineering and technology careers.
On the scale of the problem, she referred to Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey, which put the youth unemployment rate at 47,4% in the second quarter of 2026, with about five million young people aged between 15 and 34 looking for work without success. Part of the difficulty, she said, is a mismatch between the qualifications young people pursue and the skills employers need.
“The choice you make about what to study is one of the most important economic decisions you will ever make. Choose with information, not with rumours,” she advised learners.
Source: SAnews (South African Government News Agency), Dube-Ncube urges matric learners to pursue future-focused careers
