Staff Writer | July 27, 2025
Minister of Employment and Labor Nomahosazanames outlined the biggest and most important skills needed in the country. This is what the Ministry of Higher Education and Training (DHET) aims to become students.
Meth has advocated and promoted skills development as a key solution to South Africa's sustained high unemployment rate.
The unemployment rate in South Africa is currently at 32.9%. In other words, one in three people in the workforce doesn't have a job.
Some people argue that the low rate of 10% is actually much lower when considering untracked work in the informal sector, but the STATS SA stood at the reported figures.
In addition to the high unemployment rate, South Africa has problems with skill inconsistencies, and its absorption rate is low as school retirees do not receive training in the skills the country actually needs.
MK Party MP Lehlohonolo Selepe asked the department during the parliamentary Q&A about the key skills South Africa needs and whether people trained by government learning programs are in the work.
Mess pointed out that it's not her department that determines the skills. This is because it is the ability to evaluate, review and develop a National List of Occupations (OIHD) within DHET.
Similarly, the Labor Bureau does not develop or provide training for these skills as it is a mission for BHET and various sector education and training agencies (SETA).
Nevertheless, Meth said her department has a system to track these factors and has a system that doesn't know the skills and occupations that are most needed in the employment services of the South African (ESSA) database.
A list of high-demand occupations in South Africa
Although not a comprehensive list, Meth has outlined the highest demand skills in six key sectors on the database.
Medical Professionals: Psychiatry, Neurology, Oncology, Pediatrics, Pathology (Various Branches)
Dentistry: Prosthetics, Oral Medicine, Maxillofacial Surgery
Nursing: Perioperative, Emergency, Mental Health, Nurse Educator
Veterinarian role: Veterinarian, veterinary nurse
Public Health Experts
Software Developers and Programmers
ICT Security Specialist
Network Analysts and Systems Engineers
Mechanical, electrical, civil, mining engineer
Mechatronics and electronics engineers
Navy Architects and Aviation Engineers
Actual
Investment Analysts and Managers
Corporate Finance Officer
Internal and external auditors
Market Research Analyst
Supply Chain and Distribution Manager
City and Regional Planners
Environmental Scientists and Managers
Climate change scientist
Oceanologists and hydrologists
The minister said DHET can access the filling list of high demand occupations. This document was last updated in 2024 and lists 350 occupations with a high demand score.
The list was determined through emails asked to list occupations employers and recruiters may employ in the next three years and online surveys distributed on LinkedIn.
The number of times a respondent mentioned a occupation and the average level of certainty used to estimate the survey data demand scores notified by the respondents assigned to it.
The complete list can be found here.
Regarding absorption of trained workers, Meth said information on the ESSA system showed that over 26,600 government-trained people were placed.
“For programs implemented by the Del Labor Activation Program, all training providers must provide employment after training,” she said.
However, she was unable to confirm the various arrangements and conditions for employment after training those participating in the SETA program.
“Disclaimer – the views and opinions expressed in this article are the views of the author and are not necessarily those of the Bee Room.”
