According to Statistics South Africa (STATS SA), the expanded definition of unemployment, which includes those who are discouraged or not searching for employment for different reasons is at 42% of the country's eligible workforce, also calculated by age.
The number does not only include unskilled and uneducated people but also includes graduates and matriculants.
The country's unemployment issue has been well documented long before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Studies have made a connection between unemployment and inadequate education and lack of skills.
In 2018, the Higher Education and Training Department contracted the Human Sciences Research Council to research and establish a mechanism to support skills planning and training of students in preparation for the labour market.
Ntombizamasala Hlophe, the Strategy Director at Yellowwood, believes that there always needs to be a sense of hope when the government invests in the youth of South Africa.
Although money is being invested in the youth, there is the challenge of how the government can use the money to solve the unemployment issue.
Hlophe believes that the ideal image of the labour market has a population of people who are prepared to respond to change.
This can be achieved if the whole country works together to change the unemployment issue.
