Story by Malcom Hlongwane |
Durban — The KwaZulu-Natal Job and Skills Summit opened on a critical note this week, with the issue of skills mismatch taking centre stage as a major driver of unemployment in the province. MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Reverend Musa Zondi, raised concern over tertiary institutions offering qualifications that do not align with the needs of the labour market.
He questioned whether the current education and training system is adequately preparing graduates for available opportunities, warning that the disconnect continues to deepen unemployment levels.“The economy cannot absorb graduates whose skills are not relevant to industry demands,” Zondi said, calling for urgent reform and stronger collaboration between government, educational institutions and the private sector.
Supporting this view, Ms Anneline Creighton, Director of Statistical Support and Coordination at Statistics South Africa in KwaZulu-Natal, presented data showing that the province’s unemployment rate stands at 47.1 percent—significantly higher than the national average. She attributed this gap largely to the persistent mismatch between skills produced and those required by employers.
Youth unemployment remains a pressing concern, with individuals aged 15 to 24 accounting for 33.5 percent of the jobless population. This comes amid rising job losses across several sectors.
However, there were modest gains reported in industries such as transport (24 percent), finance (21 percent), agriculture (17 percent) and utilities (5 percent), offering a glimpse of potential growth areas.Delegates at the summit are expected to deliberate on practical solutions, including curriculum reform, skills development programmes and stronger industry partnerships to better align education outcomes with economic demands.
