SOUTH AFRICA — Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Mmapaseka Steve Letsike, has issued a direct challenge to South African businesses to accelerate youth employment pathways and bridge the critical gap between education and the workplace. Delivering the keynote address at the 80th anniversary celebration of Aberdare Cables in Johannesburg, Letsike emphasized that the country’s industrial development must translate into tangible economic opportunities for young people.
Aberdare Cables, marking 80 years of resilience, adaptation, and innovation, currently operates manufacturing facilities in Pietermaritzburg, Gqeberha, and Gauteng. The company directly employs approximately 1,150 South Africans and supports additional livelihoods through its suppliers and broader value chain, contributing significantly to national infrastructure, telecommunications, mining, and general economic activity.
Letsike noted that corporate milestones must prompt reflection on the future of industrialisation, which she stated is inextricably linked to youth development and skills acquisition. She highlighted the ongoing paradox in the South African labour market: too many young people remain outside employment, education, and training, while employers simultaneously report difficulties in finding workers with the necessary skills and workplace experience.
To resolve this, the Deputy Minister called on industries to create structured opportunities specifically for graduates from Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges. She stressed that while these institutions produce essential artisans, technicians, and skilled graduates, young people require more than certificates. They need workplaces, mentors, practical experience, and their first opportunity to prove their capabilities.
Closing the distance between the classroom and the factory floor requires actionable collaboration. Letsike urged businesses to expand workplace-based learning, internships, apprenticeships, learnerships, and graduate placement programmes. She advised companies to work directly with government and training institutions to identify and address current and future skills shortages driven by the energy transition, digitalisation, automation, and advanced manufacturing.
Furthermore, the Deputy Minister encouraged manufacturing and infrastructure companies to actively participate in the Youth Employment Service (YES) programme and partner with organizations such as the Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator. She challenged businesses to accommodate as many young people as their capacity allows, providing meaningful workplace experience even when permanent employment is not immediately feasible. She emphasized that young people are seeking access to demonstrate their skills, creativity, and discipline, not charity.
Highlighting existing government efforts to link skills development with emerging economic opportunities, Letsike cited a strategic partnership with the Energy and Water Sector Education and Training Authority (EWSETA). Through this initiative, 22 young women from rural provinces, including Limpopo, North West, and the Free State, received training in India under the Solar Mamas programme. This initiative equipped them with practical skills in renewable energy design, manufacturing, installation, and maintenance.
The Deputy Minister stressed the necessity of deliberately positioning young people, particularly young women and persons with disabilities, at the center of future economic sectors. These include renewable energy, digital technology, advanced manufacturing, infrastructure, telecommunications, engineering, artificial intelligence, and automation. She warned that South Africa must ensure its youth design, manufacture, install, maintain, and own businesses within these value chains, rather than merely consuming technology produced elsewhere.
While the department is actively coordinating work around Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) skills, Letsike cautioned that training alone is insufficient without concurrent access to employment. “A certificate without an opportunity does not transform a life,” she stated.
Concluding her address, Letsike urged businesses to measure their long-term legacy not merely by production output, expansion, and market share, but by the lives transformed through the opportunities they create. She congratulated Aberdare Cables on its milestone, calling for the company’s next eight decades to be defined not only by what it manufactures, but by the people and opportunities it helps build.