The decline in South Africa's performance in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) raises serious concerns as it jeopardizes the country's global competitiveness. Given that systemic inequality persists, educators and policymakers must join forces to build a sustainable environment that fosters future innovators.
South Africa's indicators in critical STEM fields remain consistently low compared to global standards. This points to deep-seated systemic issues that require immediate resolution if the country aims to thrive in a knowledge-based economy. The consequences of this educational deficit extend beyond academic statistics: without a strong foundation in STEM, students are insufficiently prepared for careers in research, technology, and innovation, which are key to sustainable growth and enhanced global competitiveness.
Professor Aradhana Mansing, Senior Manager of Research Directorate at MANCOSA, emphasizes that 'addressing these gaps is not only an educational imperative but a national priority.' She notes that strengthening STEM education will expand opportunities for future generations, enhance resilience, and ensure South Africa's full participation in the rapidly evolving digital and technological landscape.
Problems begin at the secondary education stage, where existing inequality weakens the trajectory of STEM development in South Africa even before students enter university. This is not merely an issue of academic results but one of unequal opportunities. Students from underfunded schools face overcrowded classrooms, a shortage of qualified teachers, limited access to laboratories, and inadequate digital tools. This historical injustice continues to affect learning outcomes despite post-apartheid progress.
According to Professor Mansing, 'from a higher education perspective, this creates a narrowing effect across the entire chain.' Fewer students achieve the necessary subject combinations and grade levels to enter engineering, IT, medical, and other STEM programs. Consequently, universities recruit STEM candidates from a smaller pool. Although admitted students may require gap-filling programs, this situation strains educational institutions and can negatively impact student retention rates.
Youth unemployment in South Africa ranks among the highest globally. Employers, consequently, face shortages of skilled personnel in vital sectors such as cybersecurity, software development, data analysis, and engineering. This paradox—a lack of skilled labor amidst high unemployment—highlights deep systemic weaknesses. Furthermore, the emigration of many qualified STEM professionals to countries with better prospects exacerbates the skills shortage.
As Professor Mansing observes, many capable students opt out of STEM due to limited access to labs, coding, and robotics, as well as a lack of relevant role models. She concludes: 'Our task is not just to prepare graduates, but to create a seamless ecosystem that identifies talent early, supports students throughout the process, and retains skills to meet national demand.'
South Africa has educational policies, but the real challenge lies in translating policy intent into effective implementation. While strategies aim to boost digital skills and stimulate innovation, efforts remain fragmented and poorly integrated within the education sector. This lack of coherence significantly undermines the creation of a productive pathway for students aspiring to study STEM.
Professor Mansing points to persistent barriers, including unequal school funding, insufficient teacher development, a shortage of qualified mathematics and science instructors, and a mismatch between curricula in basic education and the changing demands of the labor market. These systemic obstacles cause students to move through disjointed systems, often remaining unprepared for future opportunities.
The consequences of this inadequate infrastructure are felt across society. Language barriers further complicate the situation, as many students study mathematics and natural sciences in English, which is not their mother tongue, making scientific terminology a significant hurdle even if their conceptual understanding is strong.
Professor Mansing advocates for the establishment of a coordinated national STEM ecosystem in South Africa. She argues that collaboration among universities, schools, government, industry, and communities is crucial for creating clear pathways from early learning to employment. Without such alignment, fragmented interventions will only lead to disparate outcomes, perpetuating inequality instead of unlocking the nation's full potential.
Higher education institutions must play an active role in strengthening the STEM trajectory in South Africa. This responsibility cannot rest solely on admission and enrollment; universities must act as active partners in talent development throughout the entire educational ecosystem.
Professor Mansing notes that many students enter university burdened by uneven schooling experiences, weak mathematical foundations, limited lab access, language barriers, and poor career counseling. This underscores the need for earlier intervention, starting in primary school, especially in grades 5 and 6, when attitudes toward mathematics, science, and career aspirations are formed.
Universities can provide practical support to schools by creating gap-filling programs, robotics camps, teacher development workshops, mentorship initiatives, and increasing lab access. Technology also offers innovative possibilities through virtual labs and online tutoring, but to mitigate existing inequalities, strengthening basic digital infrastructure is essential. It is critical for universities to collaborate with NGOs, research centers, and corporate foundations to expand reach into underserved communities and discover hidden talents, ensuring that South Africa's future competitiveness begins long before students apply.
Analysis of successful international models demonstrates encouraging strategies. Singapore built a robust STEM ecosystem through meticulous teacher development, consistent curriculum design, and a culture that prioritizes lifelong learning. Finland showcases the value of equality and teacher professionalism as drivers of educational excellence; their focus on inclusivity and student well-being effectively reduces disparities.
South Korea and Japan have made significant investments in science and technology education, establishing strong links between schools, universities, and industry. Germany's dual vocational training system offers an effective blend of technical training with industry needs, while Estonia has become a leader in digital education.
Closer to home, Rwanda prioritizes coding and digital literacy within its national development agenda. India demonstrates how low-cost STEM innovations can flourish in resource-constrained settings, and Kenya's investments in technical education highlight the importance of industry partnerships for developing practical skill acquisition pathways.
The essence of the STEM crisis in South Africa goes beyond simply graduating students; it requires building a sustainable and inclusive ecosystem. According to Professor Mansing, fundamental steps toward this goal include resolving entrenched inequality in school education, strengthening teacher training, and expanding access to STEM opportunities.
If universities, schools, industry, and communities can collaborate effectively to create seamless pathways from early learning to employment, South Africa can unlock its diverse talent pool, support neurodiverse students, and retain necessary skills, transforming its STEM trajectory into a catalyst for innovation, competitiveness, and sustainable growth for future generations.
During the annual Youth Day, South Africa frequently calls on young people to become entrepreneurs. Although entrepreneurship is a vital avenue for addressing youth unemployment in the country, critics argue that this approach has become overly simplistic and detached from the realities required to build sustainable businesses.
Despite acknowledging the importance of entrepreneurial education, simply completing a course or seminar is insufficient. The ability to run a business differs significantly from the actual capacity to build one. Ambition alone is not enough if founders lack the necessary education, experience, networks, and supportive environment to create long-term companies.
It is crucial to move away from romanticizing those who abandon their studies for a startup, claiming it is a reliable development strategy. A more realistic, albeit slower, path involves completing formal schooling, developing literacy and numeracy, pursuing further education, gaining work experience, understanding customer needs, and learning how organizations function before attempting to build on a solid foundation.
The country requires more builders and specialists capable of solving problems, rather than merely individuals forced into survival mode due to labor market failures. While survival-oriented businesses deserve respect, they differ from enterprises focused on growth. A person selling merely to survive is not in the same position as a founder creating a company capable of hiring hundreds of employees.
According to World Bank data, small and medium-sized enterprises account for about 90% of all businesses and over half of global employment. In South Africa, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimates that small businesses provide between 50% and 60% of the workforce and contribute at least 34% to GDP. However, too few small firms transition into medium-sized employers, which the country urgently needs.
Part of the issue is that growing companies are burdened too early with requirements typical of large, mature corporations. Amendments to South Africa's small business definitions classify micro-enterprises (up to 10 employees), small enterprises (11 to 50), and medium enterprises (51 to 250), with varying revenue thresholds depending on the sector. Nevertheless, a company with 60, 100, or even 250 employees is not a giant but often a small, growing business striving for professionalization, market access, cash flow management, and skilled recruitment.
If South Africa wants more young entrepreneurs to become employers, policy must recognize this distinction. Regulation should be different for large, established firms capable of absorbing it, and lighter, simpler, and growth-oriented for truly small and scaling enterprises. Compliance should not become an obstacle for a promising company when hiring its next ten employees.
Similar principles apply to finance, procurement, and networks, as strong entrepreneurial ecosystems are built not only on motivation. As shown by the Startup Genome Global Report on Startup Ecosystems, competitive ecosystems depend on the interplay of funding, talent, market reach, connectivity, and knowledge. This means young founders need practical pathways to market entry, mentors who understand scaling, early customers willing to take risks, as well as access to capital and networks that allow promising companies to grow.
Young entrepreneurs also need higher-quality role models: not just famous founders, tender entrepreneurs, or Silicon Valley myths, but authoritative South African builders who solve real problems, hire people, serve customers honestly, and create useful products or services.
As stated in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, the concept of 'social entrepreneurship' may mask a simple truth: much of honest and productive entrepreneurship is already social activity when it creates value, jobs, and improves services upon which the population depends. This is the kind of discussion that should take place on Youth Day, because entrepreneurship will help develop South Africa's future leaders only if we stop viewing it as a slogan and start seeing it as a system that needs to be built.
Young people do not need another call for intensified struggle. They need schools that build competencies, universities that introduce ideas and technologies, workplaces that provide experience, investors willing to support them, worthy examples to emulate, and a government that steps aside, giving small businesses room to grow.
On the occasion of World Population Day, observed on July 11th, discussions are taking place about how many people the planet can sustain. For a long time, the main problem was considered to be population growth and the pressure it exerts on resources such as food, water, housing, and the environment. However, today's problem in South Africa is different.
The main risk for South Africa is not rapid population growth, but the possibility that the country will fail to transform its relatively young population into a driving force for economic growth, social stability, and sustainable development before this chance disappears.
Demography goes beyond simple counting of people; it is related to understanding how changes in birth rates, mortality, and migration affect the economy, society, and public administration over time. These shifts determine the size of the future workforce, the burden on public services, urbanization patterns, and ultimately, the prosperity or difficulties of the country.
South Africa is undergoing precisely such a transition. The fertility rate in the country has steadily declined over the past decades: it fell from an average of 2.78 children per woman in 2008 to approximately 2.41 in 2024. Simultaneously, South Africans are living longer. The median age increased from 22 years in 1996 to 28 years in 2022, and the proportion of elderly people is predicted to increase significantly in the coming decades. These trends indicate not a demographic decline, but societal maturity.
For countries that prepare properly, this stage represents a unique opportunity known as the demographic dividend. When the share of the adult working-age population grows relative to dependents, economies can demonstrate faster growth, increased productivity, and improved living standards. Nevertheless, this outcome never happens automatically; demography creates opportunities, but policy determines whether they will be realized.
The recently concluded Population Policy+25 Review, approved by the Cabinet at the beginning of this year, paints a worrying picture. South Africa still has a young population capable of bringing long-term economic and social benefits. However, the structural conditions necessary to unlock this dividend remain extremely limited.
Persistent unemployment, unequal educational outcomes, healthcare imbalances, spatial inequality, weak municipal capacity, and chronic poverty continue to limit the opportunities of millions of young South Africans. Rural communities, especially female-headed households, remain disproportionately vulnerable, often bearing the dual burden of poverty, caregiving responsibilities, and reliance on social welfare. These factors are not merely social problems, but demographic risks.
When youth cannot acquire skills, find decent employment, or fully participate in the economy, the demographic dividend is postponed or lost altogether. Instead of ensuring sustainable economic growth, governments face increasing fiscal pressure due to the simultaneous rise in unemployment, inequality, and social protection needs.
Discussions within ESG often focus on climate change, emissions, and natural resource management, which is undoubtedly important. However, human capital is no less important for sustainable development. The future competitiveness of the country depends not only on its natural resources but also on the health, education, and productivity of its citizens.
These demographic trends require much more attention in both corporate strategy and government policy. Businesses planning future investments, workforce development, infrastructure, or consumer markets cannot ignore the profound demographic shifts currently underway. Similarly, governments responsible for evolving systems of education, healthcare, housing, transport, and labor markets must do so in line with changing demographic realities.
The country's population policy, first adopted in 1998, initially viewed the population in the context of the broader goal of sustainable human development. A later review, Population Policy+25, confirmed the importance of including demographic data in government planning, budgeting, and program implementation.
Demographic changes cannot be reversed through political rhetoric or managed by isolated measures. This requires long-term investment in education, healthcare, job creation, effective local governance, and institutions capable of translating demographic knowledge into practical policy. As populations age, labor markets change: demand for healthcare increases, migration flows evolve, and cities expand while some rural areas shrink. These transitions affect everything—from infrastructure investment and fiscal planning to social cohesion and environmental sustainability.
However, demographic dividends are temporary. Every year that youth are excluded from quality education, productive employment, and meaningful economic participation, the window of opportunity narrows. Thus, on World Population Day, the question is not whether there are too many people in South Africa. The real question is whether we are creating the conditions for our citizens to become our greatest national asset.
Foreign nationals were housed in camps near the Epping repatriation center in Cape Town because the closure of the facility left them without support.
South Africa has long ignored its border security. For over thirty years, the country has faced the problem of illegal immigration, forcing civil organizations to take responsibility for repatriating undocumented foreigners. This complex situation has led to criticism of South Africa at the continental level.
By law, only government officials have the authority to enforce immigration legislation. Nevertheless, many citizens take to the streets in protest, expressing dissatisfaction with what they perceive as a crisis caused by the presence of illegal immigrants. Although vandalism is condemned, critics argue that the South African government should be held accountable for its insufficient approach over many years.
It is estimated that more than three million undocumented immigrants reside in the country due to porous borders. The government may have had the resources to deport these individuals for years, but its efforts have been inadequate given the scale of the problem, which is exacerbated by allegations of corruption in the police and the Department of Home Affairs. Only recently is it being observed that the crisis is beginning to be addressed with due urgency.
Various nations have been forced to evacuate their citizens from South Africa under pressure from anti-immigration groups. While some countries struggle with their citizens stranded in transit camps, Ghana organized charter flights for the repatriation of its nationals. Furthermore, the West African nation advised its youth political groups to refrain from any retaliatory actions.
Recognizing the issue of illegal immigration, Ghana's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, James Gyakye Kwesi, recently called on African countries to support South Africa in resolving this crisis. There are approximately 200 South African businesses and registered companies operating in Ghana. Conflict over this issue is likely to cause both countries more economic damage than benefit.
Despite over 100 South African companies investing significant funds in Nigeria, the West African country threatened countermeasures against South Africans due to the consequences of immigration. Business proponents should not exchange their interests for human rights, but revenge is not the solution—much is at stake. It must be recognized that continued hostility will result in no winners.
In early 2026, South African investors invested about $1 billion in Nigeria. African governments must view the continental immigration crisis as a starting point, focusing collective efforts on finding solutions and determining necessary steps.
