'Go and get any job because it teaches you the discipline of work,' Ramaphosa tells youth
In a pre-SONA engagement in Cape Town on Tuesday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said while government works on addressing unemployment, the youth should not be too picky when choosing jobs.
President Cyril Ramaphosa engaged the youth of Belhar in a pre-SONA engagement in Cape Town on 6 February 2024. Picture: Eyewitness News/Ntuthuzelo Nene
CAPE TOWN - President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged South African youth not to be choosy when job opportunities present themselves.
Ramaphosa engaged the youth of Belhar in Cape Town on Tuesday, to reflect on the three years since his administration launched the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention and the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programmes.
Ramaphosa told the youngsters that the programmes had created at least 1.8 million job opportunities for the youth since they were launched.
The president also promised the youth that government was making progress in addressing unemployment.
Ramaphosa also shared a story on how he was introduced to the workforce many decades ago:
"I was in Standard 9, which is today's grade 11, I think. I walked door-to-door saying 'kan ek werk kry asseblief, net 'n vakansie werk?' and I got a job to pack boxes of cigarettes and boxes of sweets."
The president said this taught him a lesson in hard work.
"That's why I encourage young people, don't just want to get an office job. Go and get any job, manual or otherwise, because it teaches you the discipline of work."