Fikile Mbalula has struck a familiar chord, and this time it’s not off-key. When ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula urges the private sector to drop rigid work experience requirements for young job seekers, he touches a nerve that many South Africans know all too well: you cannot prove you are ready for work if no one will let you in the door. But when ANC National Chairperson Gwede Mantashe suggests unemployed citizens are “basking in the sun” and waiting for jobs to be handed to them, he reveals a tone-deafness that risks undoing the very empathy South Africa’s politics desperately needs.
Mbalula’s appeal is based on a simple moral logic. Asking for experience from people who have never been employed is asking the impossible. It reinforces a cycle where the privileged, those with networks, internships, and exposure, get ahead, while millions of qualified, capable young people stagnate. The idea of skills-based hiring, structured internships and apprenticeships, and mentorship programs is a response to the reality that nearly half of South Africans aged 15–34 are unemployed, often through no fault of their own. Removing arbitrary barriers could open pathways and signal to youth that effort brings opportunity. But this reform must be accompanied by real training and support. Into this context enter Mantashe’s controversial remarks. By saying that South Africans have grown too dependent on government while they “sit in the sun,” and that unemployed people are simply not applying for jobs, he blames the victims of structural economic failure for their plight. Such comments, widely condemned by unions, opposition parties, and even the ANC Youth League, reveal a dangerous disconnect between some senior leaders and the everyday realities of citizens.
The backlash was swift and fierce. Labour stalwart Zwelinzima Vavi accused Mantashe of spitting in the face of the unemployed, while ActionSA’s Herman Mashaba labelled the remarks reckless and damaging to the ANC’s credibility ahead of elections. Critics argue, not without evidence, that queues of job seekers and tens of thousands of applications for a single post show people are actively seeking work. Mantashe’s framing, by contrast, risks turning a structural crisis into moral blame. This is about understanding that unemployment is not a matter of choice but circumstance. To accuse the unemployed of laziness is to ignore the collapse of growth, the chronic failures in education and training, and the lack of job creation that has defined South Africa’s recent h
istory.
Leadership that preaches effort without acknowledging systemic barriers betrays those it purports to serve. Contrasting these two interventions highlights a broader tension in South African politics: the need for structural solutions paired with narratives that uplift rather than alienate. Mbalula’s call for fresh thinking on hiring is imperfect but in the right direction; Mantashe’s “sunbathing” remark is a rhetorical misstep whose appearance of insensitivity feeds public frustration. Words matter. At a time when millions struggle to find dignity in employment, the language of leadership should build empathy, not walls. If the ANC hopes to reconnect with young South Africans and regain trust ahead of elections, it must pair reformist ideas with a genuine understanding and abandon rhetoric that blames victims of a system in need of change.