South Africa must link AI training to jobs, a new research paper commissioned by the non-profit group Collective X has found. The report says the country needs trained educators, reliable internet, cheaper access and recognised skills to turn AI use into work.
The paper is called Walking the Tightrope: South Africa’s AI Future. Materra Research carried out the study. It reviewed Africa-focused science papers, looked at current AI models and interviewed more than a dozen experts.
“The AI conversation cannot be separated from the jobs and skills conversation,” said Collective X CEO Evan Jones.
“We already have much of the talent, infrastructure and institutional capacity we need. The priority now is to connect those assets and turn AI literacy into real pathways to work,” Jones said.
According to Statistics South Africa, unemployment stood at 33.6% in the second quarter. That means 8.5 million people were out of work. For young people aged 15 to 34, the rate was 47.4%.
The report says AI is already changing industries such as call centres. These have long given many people their first jobs.
The researchers set out two possible paths. AI could make the jobs problem worse. Or it could help more people get skills, work and start businesses. The report says the choice depends on decisions made now about education, access and training.
According to the report, South Africans are already using AI tools before policy and school plans catch up. The task is to turn this informal use into skills that employers recognise.
The report names three barriers. These are the number of trained educators, the cost of data and the poor support for South African languages in global AI systems. Its first advice is to train the trainers.
Teachers, TVET lecturers and workplace mentors need support to help learners use AI well. The report says training should then run through tools people already have. These include mobile phones, current colleges and zero-rated platforms.
The researchers also call for short practical courses known as micro-credentials. These would show what people can do with AI through portfolios, workplace checks and practical tests. The report says they should match what employers need.
The report warns against counting only formal jobs as success. It says freelancers, self-employed people and small businesses can also gain from AI.
Language is another focus. Top AI models do worse in African languages than in English, with one test showing gaps of up to 31 percentage points. IsiZulu, isiXhosa and Sesotho each have about 230 to 290 megabytes of text online. English has about nine terabytes.
The report says this gap could create work. People are needed to transcribe, translate, check and create language data. A public programme could pay them while building a national resource.
The researchers said South Africa does not need new institutions for AI skills. They said existing funds can pay for it, including SETA grants, the Skills Development Levy, the National Skills Fund and B-BBEE skills spending. The report also said the country should weigh cost, POPIA compliance and reliance on foreign providers when choosing AI systems.
“The objective should therefore be to ensure that the AI transition happens with the workforce rather than to it,” said Dr Rodney Manyike of the Human Resource Development Council.
Source: this article is based on reporting by TechFinancials. Image: TechFinancials. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Technology desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Werner Jacobs covers technology for Tzaneen Voice. Werner reports on mobile networks, data prices, internet access, smartphones, apps, AI, cybersecurity and South African tech companies. Each story explains what a new product, price change or policy means for ordinary users in South Africa.