Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has drawn sharp reactions after arguing that South Africa’s unemployment crisis stems partly from a lack of technical skills among workers. Image:Image: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers
Former Home Affairs Minister and ANC veteran Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has drawn sharp reactions from South Africans. She argued that unemployment would not disappear even if all undocumented foreign nationals left South Africa. She added that many unemployed South Africans lack the technical skills modern industries require. These Dlamini-Zuma skills remarks have ignited a fierce public debate.
What Dlamini-Zuma Said About Skills
Dlamini-Zuma spoke to the SABC about South Africa’s unemployment crisis. She acknowledged that the country’s unemployment rate stands at 32.7 percent. She noted that 8.1 million South Africans are without work. However, she argued that removing foreign nationals would not solve the problem.
“Because there is unemployment, people are now trying to attribute that unemployment to the Africans who are here,” she said. “I don’t think if they left there would suddenly be employment in South Africa. There would still be unemployment.”
Furthermore, she noted that while many unemployed South Africans are educated, they often lack the specific technical skills modern industries require. She drew on a recent visit to India as an example. There, she observed skills centres teaching young people to repair phones, drones and electric motorbikes, and to maintain solar panels. She argued South Africa needed a similar approach.
“Most of these young people who received skills from that centre are employed immediately after their training. And these skills also allow them to start their own businesses. This is possible for Africa as well,” she said.
Her Position on Immigration
Dlamini-Zuma acknowledged that illegal migration was not desirable. However, she defended legal migration. “Illegal migration is not desirable, but legal migration is fine. There should be no problem with people who are here legally,” she said. She warned against blaming foreign nationals for South Africa’s structural unemployment challenges.
South Africans Respond to the Dlamini-Zuma Skills Remarks
South Africans online have pushed back strongly against her comments. Commentary across social media reflects frustration with what many describe as a deflection from the real issue. Many South Africans argue that the skills gap Dlamini-Zuma describes is itself a direct consequence of decades of government failure in education and training. Therefore, they argue, blaming workers for lacking skills that government failed to provide is not a credible argument.
Others have pointed out that South Africa has thousands of qualified engineers, technicians, tradespeople and graduates who cannot find employment. As a result, they argue the problem is not a lack of skills but a lack of jobs and a labour market that does not prioritise local workers.
Some social media users also questioned whether Dlamini-Zuma was the appropriate person to lecture South Africans about skills development. Furthermore, many noted the irony of a former government minister, whose party has been in power for three decades suggesting that South African workers are unemployable due to a skills deficit that the same government was responsible for addressing.
The Broader Context
Dlamini-Zuma’s comments come at a particularly sensitive moment. Anti-illegal immigration protests have swept through Pretoria and Johannesburg in recent weeks. Ghana chartered a government flight to evacuate citizens it described as unsafe in South Africa. The South African Human Rights Commission stated there is no evidence that foreign nationals are overcrowding public hospitals. Zimbabwe’s Foreign Affairs Minister denied that a migration crisis exists.
South Africa’s youth unemployment rate stands at 60.9 percent for those aged 15 to 24. Consequently, the debate about who is responsible for that figure government, foreign nationals, employers or workers themselves is one of the most contested conversations in the country right now.
For more context on South Africa’s unemployment debate read our opinion piece: 32.7% and Climbing: South Africa’s Unemployment Crisis Demands More Than Statistics.
For more information on South Africa’s skills development programmes visit dhet.gov.za.
Editors Note The views expressed by South Africans referenced in this article are those of members of the public expressed online and on the ground and do not represent the editorial position of Mzansi Today Live. All quotes attributed to Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma are sourced from her interviews with SABC and 702 as published on 27 May 2026.