Rethinking Employment: Why South Africans Should Embrace Entrepreneurship

In a time where job security is no longer guaranteed and economic uncertainty is felt across industries, the need to rethink how we view employment has never been more urgent.

While we continue to value traditional employment, it has become increasingly clear that the formal job market cannot absorb the majority of South Africans, a reality that calls for a stronger emphasis on entrepreneurship.

A friend of mine was recently offered a salary cut, with discussions of possible retrenchment, as the multibillion-rand entity they are employed at, takes a major financial dip which has been brewing for years. This of course has rattled her, expressing her job insecurity with no other stream of income. 

For the first time this year I shuddered at the approaching of Workers Day, a holiday we all so proudly celebrate, sometimes failing to remember the significance of it. I realised that many South Africans cannot even relate to this day judging by the unchangeable unemployment rate.

According to StatsSA the official unemployment rate was approximately 32.7% in Q4 of 2022, 32.1% for Q4 2023, and 31.9% in Q4 2024.

There may be slight movement, however reaching a 10% unemployment rate anytime soon seems impossible. The reality of the matter is that the workplace in its entirety cannot absorb everyone and this awakening needs to be seen as an opportunity to stimulate and give rise to the birth of entrepreneurship in our country.

Disappointingly, the youth still hold the highest stake in unemployment, therefore other solutions must be explored.

It goes without saying that the original educational system was created to prepare pupils for the workplace, the mindset and foundation of the schooling system is that.

Since 1997, multiply interventions attempting to incorporate entrepreneurship in the educational system had and has been put into place, including; accounting, economics, business studies and Economics and Management Sciences (EMS) and others in the pipeline, all aiming to expose learners to entrepreneurial concepts.

The result of these attempts may be good, but more practical entrepreneurship learning is required.

Perhaps the following additional needs can be adopted:

• Entrepreneurship integration needs to be a continuous and compulsory element in all curriculums and learning for primary schooling, secondary schooling and in higher education.
• The curriculum should not be like the current, it needs to depart from theoretical learning to a practical approach.
• Just as mentorship is used in business development programmes, the same concept should apply. Successful and growing entrepreneurs need to contribute to learning whether as teachers, mentors or contributors to the curriculum.
• Entrepreneurship should be taught, not merely as concept,but as a mental concept – one that can be applied throughout learning, pursued as a viable career path, and leveraged during periods of financial uncertainty, innovation or disruption. 
• There needs to be more schools with an underlying focus on entrepreneurship as there are in schools focusing mainly on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
• For employers and workers, the world is constantly evolving, and innovation is needed, more “Intrapreneurs” in the workplace are needed to contribute into the sustainability of companies- innovation and new product development must be encouraged and rewarded to workers.

An existing and rising trend in major entities is the utilisation of ESD budgets for the empowerment of released employees, a portion of this budget can be used to empower retrenched employees by placing them onto their supply chain accompanied by funding and business development support, this  being  a “win-win” solution for the economy.

Above all, SMMEs remain key players in job creation in our country, rectifying the entrapment of “schooling and seeking employment” cycle.

Entrepreneurship is a two-fold sword in job creation for our country, the job seeker turned into entrepreneur can fend for themselves and further be a job creator to many. 

As we reflect on the sacrifices of trade unions like the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) for Workers Day and slowly approach youth day, let us remember it as it’s no coincidence that these two holidays shadow each other, one may presume that   the universe anticipated  that youth and unemployment would continue to coexist.

As we continue to address the daunting youth employment rate and seek solutions for job leavers and seekers, entrepreneurship remains a practical solution and major driver of our economy.

Londiwe Khuzwayo is Programme Manager at 22 On Sloane. 

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