Thinking of applying for a 'National Youth Service learnership'? Don’t, it’s a scam, department warns

Desperate job seekers continue to be at risk of being targeted by scammers who are falsely advertising government jobs online.

The employment and labour department issued a warning on Thursday after a fake poster advertising a “National Youth Service learnership” circulated on social media. 

Departmental acting spokesperson Musa Zondi said the advertisement promises job seekers a stipend of R5,000 per month and asks them to forward their CVs to the department.

The department's Public Employment Service (PES) chief director of employment services, Esther Tloane, warned job seekers against responding to opportunities that ask them to make any payments.

Tloane explained, “the department uses its online job-matching platform called the Employment Services of SA (Essa), in which job seekers register their CVs, while employers place job opportunities for matching purposes”.

This comes after the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) warned earlier this week about a “government phase 4 Covid-19 relief fund grant”. The fake poster included a link for applicants to apply.

The fake grant application came after president Cyril Ramaphosa moved SA to alert level 4 lockdown. Another advertisement claimed the department was issuing food vouchers in KZN. 

The department dismissed the advertisement.

“A message has been shared on social media platforms recently, leading some people to believe that Sassa is issuing food vouchers of R750 to unemployed persons. These reports are untrue and misleading,” the agency said in a statement.