Unemployed graduates turn to desperate measures in job hunt

Emihle Zaza is so desperate to find a teaching job for her unemployed sister Ncumisa that she placed an “advertisement” on Facebook this week.

With the assistance of an internet café, the third-year university student, also studying teaching, designed a poster titled “Please help me find a job”, including her sister’s photograph and teaching qualification.

It indicated she was willing to relocate and start work immediately.

Another jobless graduate, Tshepo Ramokoatsi, a former mechanical engineering student from the Central University of Technology (CUT) in Mangaung, is earning between R40 and R140 a day running a printing and copying business from his home.

The dire situation facing hundreds of thousands of unemployed graduates came into sharp focus when it was recently revealed in parliament that more than 13.4-million people applied for the R350 social relief of distress (SRD) grant in January, including 716,200 unemployed graduates.

The South African Council for Graduates (SACGRA) received 3,606 applications from graduates since January 15 who responded to adverts from provinces offering, among other things, internships and work integrated learning opportunities.

Another organisation, Unemployed Graduates Association of South Africa, (Ungraasa), based in Limpopo, confirmed they had 8,000 people on their database compared with 6,000 last year.

At least 5,000 of the 8,000 graduates on the database are former university students.

Emotional job seekers this week shared heartbreaking stories of their battle to find work despite having graduated with diplomas and degrees at South Africa's 26 state universities.

Ncumisa Zaza, 33, a single mother of two living in Matatiele, Eastern Cape, volunteered to teach maths and economic & management sciences at Lihaseng Primary School “because she loves teaching”.

I am not paid a cent for teaching but I decided to volunteer because of the love I get being around children.

She is forced to take a 15-minute walk to the school because she cannot afford to pay the R10 taxi fare each way.

“I am not paid a cent for teaching, but I decided to volunteer because of the love I get being around children.”

Zaza, whose studies at Walter Sisulu University in the Eastern Cape were funded by government’s Funza Lushaka bursary scheme, has been unemployed since graduating in May 2021.

Last week, parliament was told 1,400 teachers who were recipients of the bursary had not been placed at schools by the end of last year. 

There were also 8,084 teachers on the department of basic education’s national recruitment database at the end of last year.

Zaza's only source of income is R900 a month she receives in child support grants for her two children aged 10 and 15. 

“The grant for my 15-year-old goes towards his accommodation because he is living at school. It’s very hard. We live in a village and we grow vegetables like spinach, potatoes and tomatoes. That’s how we survive.

“When our parents send us to university they have high hopes that some day we will work and help them out.”

She did not apply for the SRD grant because she was under the impression she would not qualify as she was receiving the child support grants.

“The districts tell us to hand-deliver CVs at schools because they are having issues with their unemployed educators’ database. I must have hand-delivered about 30 CVs to schools.”

Ramokoatsi, 26, who lives in Botshabelo in Mangaung, has been battling to find work from the time he graduated with a national diploma in mechanical engineering in October 2020.

With his qualification he could work in manufacturing, maintenance and mining and also in government entities as an occupational health and safety inspector.

“I sent out between 12 to 15 CVs to private companies and government entities, but so far I have not been called to a single interview. It’s very depressing.”

Ramokoatsi, who lives with his 60-year-old mother, a domestic worker, and a sister and her six-year-old son who collects a child support grant, started his business a month ago after buying a second-hand printer on auction for R531.

“I make copies, scan documents and help people send job applications via email. On a good day, I earn about R140 and on an average day R40.”

He received the SRD grant for about eight months last year.

Millicent Shisani, 45, a single mother of four from Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, said putting food on the table every day is her “worst nightmare”.

Shisani graduated with a bachelor’s degree in media studies from the University of Limpopo in 2018, then completed a postgraduate certificate in education which made her eligible to apply for a teaching post.

But she has been unemployed since January last year. To make matters worse, her four children are unemployed, with one collecting child support grants for two children.

“It’s traumatic. There’s no pain like waking up in the morning and not knowing what to tell your children.”

Thamsanqa Maqubela, CEO of SACGRA, said of the 325 applications received from graduates with IT qualifications, 46 were bachelor’s degrees from universities.

“A total of 148 were national diplomas from universities of technology while the rest were mostly advanced diplomas from technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges.”

He said most unemployed graduates were battling financially and did not have Wi-Fi to send job applications and CVs.

“Most graduates are now also discouraged job seekers. Most young people come with a 10% employability level to join the world of work.”

Matsawela Khunwane from Ungraasa estimated that at least 7,000 graduates on their database applied for the SRD grant.

“They need money to make job applications and to feed their families,” she said.

Basic education minister Angie Motshekga admitted in parliament this week they were not able to find “enough” places for Funza Lushaka graduates. “Maybe next time when we report to you, we will show you the excess number of teachers we have produced that we are sometimes unable to place on time.”