South Africa is formalising the informal – but are we preparing young people for it?
4 min read
Siyanda wakes before sunrise, logs into an e-hailing app and spends the next 10 hours navigating Joburg traffic, picking up strangers and dropping them off across a city that doesn’t know his name.
The 24-year-old has no employment contract, no paid leave, no medical cover and no backup plan in case he can’t work. He’s working hard to make a life for himself – and to ferry the economy around – but in the eyes of the law, he barely exists.
His story is not unique. South Africa is a nation of youth – which makes it a nation of potential. Millions of young South Africans are building their livelihoods in the gig economy as delivery riders, informal traders and freelance or contract workers of every kind.
This is not a generation that doesn’t want to work. It is a generation that hustles to find jobs wherever they can, in the absence of a formal labour market that could absorb them. The gig economy is, for many, the only rung on the career ladder.
Earlier this year, the Minister of Employment and Labour announced the Employment Laws Amendment Bill 2025 and the Labour Relations Amendment Bill 2025, in the biggest shake-up of our labour landscape in decades.
The bills will expand the legal definition of an ’employee’ and propose that gig workers should be treated as employees. This means that, for the first time, someone like Siyanda could be entitled to minimum wages, paid leave, protection against unfair dismissal and the right to collectively bargain.
But regulation alone means nothing to someone who doesn’t know they have these rights and protections, which begs the urgent question: Are the young people who depend on the gig economy actually equipped to benefit from these changes?
Gig workers have the drive – now they need the knowledge
Young people joined the gig economy because of a lack of formal employment opportunities, but many entered this space without training, mentorship or any real experience in the world of work. The result is a generation of workers who are entrepreneurial by necessity, but underprepared by circumstance.
The knowledge gaps we’re seeing are significant. Many young gig workers are unaware of their tax obligations, struggle to read a contract and don’t know how to handle workplace disputes. These are skills that would have come up organically in traditional employment, with a safety net of support attached. Gig workers don’t have that luxury.
The good news is that this is a solvable problem, because closing any knowledge gap starts with education. Labour literacy has to be part of how we train young people for work. It needs to be embedded in every employability and entrepreneurship programme aimed at young people, starting with the curricula at technical and vocational education & training (TVET) colleges and at schools. These places of education need to be agile and forward-looking to help prepare our youngsters for the future of work.
TVET colleges also need to partner with industry to offer work-integrated learning.
As much as young people need to learn soft skills and financial literacy, they also need to know their rights as workers. This will make them less vulnerable, more empowered, more confident and better positioned to build something sustainable.
Think again of Siyanda shuttling people around in Joburg at all hours of the day. With the right knowledge, he is not just a driver. He is a small business owner who knows his worth and proudly contributes to society.
Nkosinathi Mahlangu
Youth Employment & Entrepreneurship Specialist
Image credit: Magnific
