Deputy Minister Nonceba Mhlauli: Presidential Youth Employment Intervention Q4 Progress Report

Opening Remarks by Deputy Minister Nonceba Mhlauli at the media briefing on the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI) Q4 Progress Report, Pretoria

Monday, 2 June 2025
Good morning, members of the media, partners, and colleagues.

Thank you for joining us today as we reflect on the progress made through the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI) in the fourth quarter of the 2024/2025 financial year, covering the period from January to March 2025.

As we mark the fifth year since the launch of the PYEI in 2020, I am pleased to report that the programme continues to make meaningful strides in unlocking sustainable earning opportunities for young people across South Africa. Our latest quarterly report confirms that over 4.78 million young people are now registered on the National Pathway Management Network, with more than 1.67 million earning opportunities secured to date. This reflects the strength of the PYEI’s approach in aggregating demand, coordinating partners, and enabling pathways that enhance young people’s economic participation.

In Q4 alone, 76,569 earning opportunities were accessed by young people, including:

• 60,444 opportunities through SA Youth, and
• 16,125 through the Employment Services of South Africa (ESSA).

We also saw continued progress through our partnerships:

• The Youth Employment Service (YES) facilitated 15,137 workplace experience placements in the private sector.
• The Department of Higher Education and Training placed an additional 5,504 TVET graduates into workplace opportunities.
• The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) and the Department of Small Business Development supported more than 43,000 young entrepreneurs with financial and non-financial enterprise development opportunities.
• Phase 3 of the Revitalised National Youth Service saw 2,048 youth recruited, bringing the total number of participants across all phases to 84,426.

We are particularly proud of the continued momentum of the Jobs Boost Outcomes Fund, which uses an innovative pay-for-performance model to incentivise the placement of young people into sustained, quality jobs, has made steady progress in its pilot phase.

By the end of March 2025:

• Over 5,400 young people had been enrolled reaching 65% of the
programme’s enrolment target. 
• More than 3,000 had been placed into quality jobs, and
• Over R70 million had been disbursed to 11 implementing partners, including R30 million in this quarter alone.

These jobs are not just temporary placements. They are quality jobs, defined by duration, income level, and growth potential. We are already seeing shifts in employer practices as a result to better accommodate excluded young people.

This report also highlights the launch of the Township Ecosystem Mapping Platform, a new tool developed under the Local Ecosystem Enablement pillar, aimed at improving coordination and access for township-based entrepreneurs.

We remain committed to building a connected, demand-led ecosystem that not only creates opportunities but also drives systems change in the labour market. As always, the success of this initiative is due to the ongoing collaboration between government, private sector, development partners, and the young people themselves.

We will continue sharing our progress through these quarterly reports. As always, detailed data and insights are available on the PYEI dashboard at www.stateofthenation.gov.za.

We also invite our youth to register on SAYouth.Mobi which is a zero rated site where they will access information about the PYEI as well as all youth empowerment related matters.

We look forward to sharing more insights during this media interaction and will now be handing over to my colleagues who will give you a detailed breakdown of the Quarter 4 results.

I thank you.

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