Enhancing Visibility and Accessibility for Effective Public Employment Services: A Means to Minimizing Unemployment in South Africa

Description

Page: 11-17

Shangolirimini Demana, John Ntshaupe Molepo, and Kabelo Boikhutso Moeti (Department of Public Management, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa)

South Africa is faced with rapidly growing unemployment, particularly for young people. According to the StatsSA (2024) in their quarter 2 of 2024 report, the statistics show that South Africa is standing at a 33.5% unemployment rate, with an increase of 0.6% from quarter 1 of 2024. Young people are the most affected category with over 45% of the unemployment rate. The Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) has the responsibility of promoting employment creation and protection of existing employment, through Public Employment Services. Those services are regulated by the Employment Services Act (No 04 of 2014). The main purpose of this article is to determine the strategy that will enhance the visibility and accessibility of services provided by PES to improve employment in South Africa. The article is informed by the empirical evidence and a mixed method approach was used to collect data. Questionnaires were used to collect data from 44 participants and eight participants were interviewed. The main finding of the study is that PES is not doing enough to market its services to the citizens. Many job seekers and employers are not familiar with the services provided by PES. The article concludes by recommending that PES should use media platforms such as television, radio stations, and social media to market its services. This will ensure that citizens are more familiar with PES services and can access them to improve their employment status.