Ahead of News24’s On the Record summit, readers from across South Africa shared their blueprint for creating 5 million jobs in 10 years. The answer isn’t in policy papers—it’s in unlocking what already exists. From teenagers redesigning school curricula to platforms that turn soccer coaching into real income, the solutions are hiding in plain sight. The question isn’t, can we do it, it’s will we have the courage to try?
Forget the doom and gloom. If South Africa is serious about fixing unemployment, the message from readers is clear: stop overthinking it – and start building from what already exists.
Ahead of News24’s On the Record summit this week, dozens of readers, from business leaders and academics to entrepreneurs, carers and even teenagers, shared ideas with News24 on how the country can get 5 million jobs in 10 years.
The strong common thread that emerged was that jobs won’t come from policy papers. They come from this radical idea: South Africa doesn’t need to choose between high-tech and hands-on work. It needs both, and it needs them now.
Take 19-year-old Megan Kubelun’s essay that calls for stronger technical and practical skills in schools with clear pathways to jobs that are easy to understand for students.
“When students understand how their education connects to future opportunities, they are better prepared to contribute meaningfully to society.”
A platform already trying to put this vision into practice is ILALI – one that makes people’s existing skills visible, bookable, and paid.
“By turning soccer coaching, tutoring, art classes and aftercare to real income – much like Airbnb unlocked spare rooms – this platform unlocks educational entrepreneurs,” the pitch reads.
Simply put: Youth don’t need more preparation for jobs that don’t exist, or may not exist – they need demand-driven systems that reward what they already have to offer.
Other platform-based ideas include a proposal for an app-based transport solution with real-time tracking, mobile payments, and short-term travel credit – essentially saying, “If we can’t get people to work, we can’t expect them to work.”
More practical ideas
Others pointed to sectors with obvious, growing demand. Elderly care stood out, especially as many wealthy countries face ageing populations and shrinking birth rates. Training carers now could open large employment pipelines in the near future.
“We’re sitting on a demographic goldmine,” Carsten Gertz says. It’s unglamorous work that artificial intelligence can’t automate, and it could generate thousands of jobs almost immediately.
Many proposals and ideas also tended toward township-based community hubs, where practical skills are shared within an ecosystem geared toward employment growth.
Ethne Makgasane says: “I would start by training school dropouts.” An example they give is that “when people are cutting grass, we do not integrate. Train that person to fix the machine and service it so that a skill is shared.”
Perhaps the most provocative idea tackles something hiding in plain sight: maintenance. “When last did anyone fix anything properly in this country?” Alban Motsepe asks. The pitch is simple but powerful: launch a national planned maintenance drive across public and private infrastructure. Roads, buildings, water systems, sewage plants – all creating sustained artisan jobs in plumbing, electrical, welding, and construction. It’s not sexy, but it’s scalable.
There’s recognition from readers that entrepreneurship without emotional resilience fails, that training without transport is pointless, and that platforms without internet access are fantasy.
Professor Sarah Skeen of Stellenbosch reminded us that “investing in youth mental health improves workforce readiness, productivity, and supports inclusive economic growth, meaning it is essential for South Africa’s economic development”.
For this to become a reality, and not a mere pie-in-the-sky dream, many readers have suggested that mentoring and coaching be part and parcel of every idea.
What the readers want
What’s remarkable from these emails, isn’t the lack of solutions – it’s the audacity gap between what’s proposed and what gets funded.
Readers want music equity markets, mental health as economic infrastructure, BEE metrics to count jobs rather than spending, eucalyptus oil as township enterprises… and fix, fix, fix.
These aren’t pipe dreams from armchair economists. They’re battle-tested ideas from people navigating unemployment daily. From teenagers reimagining school curricula to entrepreneurs monetising informal skills, the proposals share common DNA: build on what exists, remove barriers, create immediate pathways to income.
The challenge for influencers, thought leaders, and those with access to the levers of power is: are you willing to put your words into action?
As the On the Record summit convenes on Thursday, the national dialogue continues, and the path to 5 million jobs isn’t unclear. It’s unwalked.
South Africa’s biggest employment crisis isn’t a lack of solutions – News24’s readers say – it’s a lack of courage to try them.
