Q1 2026
VUKA.
Section 13 · Summary Intelligence

15 facts every student needs

The non-negotiable verified intelligence — every figure cross-referenced against authoritative sources.

Use this in your classroom or career-guidance lesson

  1. Fact 01
    01

    Youth unemployment in South Africa hit 62.4% for ages 15–24 in Q1:2025 — the highest in a decade. Having no qualification is catastrophic.

    Source: Stats SA QLFS Q1:2025

  2. Fact 02
    02

    Graduate unemployment is approximately 10% — vs 31.9% nationally. A degree remains the single strongest predictor of employment.

    Source: Stats SA QLFS · SAGEA 2025 · LMI 2024

  3. Fact 03
    03

    84% of large SA corporates and multinationals cannot find skilled talent (up from 79% in 2024). The problem is not too many graduates — it's the wrong graduates.

    Source: Xpatweb Critical Skills 2025 (381 employers)

  4. Fact 04
    04

    Top-paying graduate roles 2025: Actuarial, Quant Analysts, Retail Banking, Investment, Data Analytics, Engineering — all require Pure Maths.

    Source: SAGEA Employer Benchmark 2025 (78 employers)

  5. Fact 05
    05

    AI/ML Engineering is the best overall career for pay and outlook (R700K–R1M+ entry). AI placements grew 96% Q4:2024 → Q1:2025.

    Source: SalaryExpert · Pnet · Regenesys 2025

  6. Fact 06
    06

    60% of 2023 matriculants chose Maths Literacy over Pure Maths — locking themselves out of engineering, data science, medicine, actuarial.

    Source: DHET Annual Report 2023/24

  7. Fact 07
    07

    South Africa has the highest skills mismatch among 30 compared countries. 25% are over-educated; 27% under-educated.

    Source: GTAC / OECD 2019

  8. Fact 08
    08

    Humanities graduates have the lowest study-related employment (73.9%). Public management graduates wait 19 months on average.

    Source: GTAC · Mncayi & Dunga 2016

  9. Fact 09
    09

    Artisans showed the steepest YoY demand increase in 2025. TVET N3–N6 + trade test → R180K–R350K. TVET is not a last resort.

    Source: Xpatweb 2025 · DHET

  10. Fact 10
    10

    Renewable energy: only ~6,000 permanent jobs to date, but 70,000/year possible by 2030 and 500,000 by 2050. Bottleneck is engineering skills.

    Source: Ecofin Nov 2025 · BDO 2025

  11. Fact 11
    11

    Gauteng has 58% of all SA jobs. Western Cape has the lowest unemployment (21.4%) and a 10–20% tech salary premium.

    Source: CareerJunction 2025 · Stats SA

  12. Fact 12
    12

    Work experience is the missing ingredient. Graduates 18–34 face ~30% unemployment — driven by lack of experience.

    Source: ShiftMate 2026 · SAGEA 2025

  13. Fact 13
    13

    Master's earn +29% over Bachelor's; PhDs +23% over Master's. But postgrad in oversupplied fields does not solve mismatch.

    Source: SalaryExplorer · WorldSalaries 2026

  14. Fact 14
    14

    SA graduates 15% from STEM (vs OECD 23%) and 38% from business/law (vs OECD 23%). Pipeline is structurally skewed away from STEM.

    Source: OECD Education at a Glance 2025

  15. Fact 15
    15

    Workplace-based learning collapsed from 158,000 (2019/20) to 87,915 (2023/24). Tens of thousands of TVET students cannot complete qualifications.

    Source: DHET Annual Report 2023/24