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When we talk about youth unemployment in South Africa, I think one of the biggest things we need to talk about is opportunity. It is easy to tell young people to study, get a qualification and find a job. But the reality is that getting your first opportunity can be one of the hardest parts. Many organisations want someone with experience, but as a young person, where are you supposed to get that experience if nobody is willing to give you a chance? I understand this beca

When most organisations talk about Employment Equity, the conversation tends to stay in the compliance lane. Targets. Reports. Scorecards. Consultations. Deadlines. All of these are important. But from my perspective as Managing Director of Sange SA, they are only part of the conversation. Employment Equity is not simply a compliance obligation. It is a leadership practice. It shapes how power, opportunity, development and voice are distributed within an organisation every

South Africa's workforce is standing at an uncomfortable crossroads. Digital transformation is no longer a future consideration for most organisations, it is a present-day operating requirement. Yet the skills needed to keep pace with that shift remain unevenly distributed, poorly measured, and in many cases, entirely absent from workforce planning conversations. For HR managers, transformation directors, training managers, and Skills Development Facilitators, this is not an

At the beginning of this month, we had the privilege of celebrating one of the most rewarding milestones in the Sange SA calendar—our Graduation Ceremony. Hosted at the beautiful Modderfontein Country Club, the day was made even more special by perfect weather, creating the ideal setting to celebrate the achievements of our graduates. As I looked around the venue, I was struck by one simple thought: everyone had shown up for themselves. Some graduates arrived in formal attire

B-BBEE skills spend is often approached the same way. Allocate the budget, hit the target percentage, get the certificate, move on. It is a simple formula, and simple has its place. But when skills spend stops at the certificate, it misses the point of why the spend exists in the first place. At Sange SA, we look at this a little differently. We do not see compliance as a separate box to tick alongside our training work. We see it as Good Governance, and Good Governance is on

For weeks, the countdown clock was set. Legacy qualifications, the pre-2009 programmes that have anchored South Africa's skills development system for decades, were due to phase out on 30 June 2026. Learners were anxious. Skills Development Providers were recalculating enrolment plans. HR managers and SDFs were quietly asking the same question in every planning meeting: what happens now? Then, just before the deadline, Minister of Higher Education and Training Buti Manamela s

Last week we spoke about the pathway crisis facing South Africa's youth. Millions of young people are ready to work, but the routes into the job market are too thin. We explained why we exist and how we see ourselves as a partner in closing that gap. This week we want to get specific. Not the why, but the how. What does a real pathway actually look like, qualification by qualification, and where does it take a learner next? What "articulation" actually means Every qualificati

Right now, 3.4 million young South Africans are not in employment, education or training. At the National Education Summit 2026, the Minister of Higher Education and Training put it plainly: the country's real crisis is not unemployment on its own, it is a crisis of pathways. He also flagged that the economy needs about 30,000 new artisans every year, yet the system is currently producing only around 20,000. Numbers like that can feel abstract until you sit across from the yo

There is something remarkable about the young people I meet today. They are growing up in a world that changes faster than any generation before them has experienced. One day a career path seems secure; the next, technology has transformed it. Information is everywhere, opportunities can be found online, and yet uncertainty seems to be a constant companion. What stands out most is not a lack of ambition. If anything, many young people are deeply motivated to succeed. The chal

Every year on 16 June, South Africans pause to remember the Soweto Uprising of 1976. While the day commemorates a painful chapter in our country’s history, it is also a reminder of the power of young people to challenge injustice and demand a better future. As I reflect on the significance of the Soweto Uprising, I am reminded that its lessons extend far beyond history. It teaches us valuable lessons about learning, personal growth, resilience, and the opportunities that educ

As a young South African in 2026, I have come to understand that education is one of the most powerful tools for changing lives. Yet, despite the progress our country has made since democracy, educational inequality remains a reality for many young people. The quality of education, access to resources, technology, mentorship, and career opportunities often depends on where a person is born and the circumstances they grow up in. My own learning journey has shown me both the

In 1974, the Department of Bantu Education issued the Afrikaans Medium Decree, which was a policy that mandated the use of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in Black secondary schools. This proved to be a significant hardship on black learners and educators who were not properly equipped to teach and learn subjects in a language that was not their mother tongue. This law was met with rejection from black students who saw the language as that of ‘the oppressors’ and thus

Fifty years ago, the youth of 1976 took to the streets of Soweto not with weapons, but with words. Their demand was deceptively simple: the right to learn in a language they understood. The right to think in their own voice. The right to be educated on their own terms. That uprising, which we commemorate every 16 June on Youth Day, was at its core a battle for the right to know. It was a fight for intellectual sovereignty. Fast forward exactly 50 years from that moment, from

Across South Africa, organisations are once again reviewing their mid-year B-BBEE strategies, adjusting scorecard priorities, and allocating Enterprise Development (ED) budgets ahead of verification season. For many businesses, ED remains a compliance-driven exercise — a necessary contribution to secure points and maintain competitive positioning. But the organisations creating lasting impact are approaching Enterprise Development differently! They are no longer asking: “

South Africa's skills development landscape is undergoing one of its most significant shifts in decades, and if you haven't yet taken action, the time to do so is now. The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), and the Quality Council For Trades & Occupations (QCTO) have confirmed that enrolments on legacy qualifications officially end on 30 June 2026. After this date, companies will no longer be able to register lea

Most South African businesses pay their Skills Development Levy every month, yet recover less than or only 20% of the funding potentially available to them. Why? Because many organisations stop at the basics. They submit their Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) and Annual Training Report (ATR), claim their Mandatory Grant, and move on. But the businesses creating real workforce transformation are going further. They are tapping into SETA discretionary grants to support Learnerships,

The deadline pressure is over. Your Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) is submitted. For many organisations, this is where the process ends. The document gets filed away, only to resurface during the next mandatory grant season. That's a missed opportunity. Because a WSP was never meant to be a compliance checkbox. It is, at its core, a strategic document, one that should actively guide how your organisation develops its people, closes skills gaps, and drives performance throughout

South Africa’s unemployment crisis remains one of the most pressing socio-economic challenges of our time. With youth unemployment persistently high, the conversation is no longer about whether we need intervention—but rather how intentional, strategic, and future-focused those interventions are. At its core, unemployment in South Africa is not just a numbers issue; it is a skills mismatch crisis, a systemic inequality challenge, and a call for transformation in how we prepar

Every year between January and April, organisations across South Africa begin preparing their Workplace Skills Plans (WSPs) and Annual Training Reports (ATRs) for submission to their respective Sector Education and Training Authorities. For many organisations, this period can feel like a race against time to meet the 30 April deadline. Yet for those who have worked closely within the skills development ecosystem, this season represents something much deeper than compliance. I