Between July 2023 and April 2026, 12 914 people secured employment via the City of Cape Town’s Jobs Connect work placement platform.
This is according to the city, which notes that 432 of the recruits were graduates and 388 people with disabilities. A further 2 376 accessed education opportunities via the platform.
In a statement, alderman James Vos, the city’s mayoral committee member for economic growth, says Jobs Connect has helped expand employment opportunities for residents.
“The reality is that, in South Africa, job-hunting is expensive. A 2023 survey from Youth Capital found that respondents spent an average of almost R1 500 on transport, data and applications. Jobs Connect helps reduce that burden through a streamlined, user-friendly and cost-effective system,” says Vos.
South Africa’s official unemployment rate reached 31.4% in the fourth quarter of 2025, based on the recent Quarterly Labour Force Survey conducted by Statistics SA.
Young people (15-34 years) remain vulnerable in the labour market, with the fourth quarter results showing the unemployment rate increased by 0.1438 of a percentage point to 43.8% during this period.
Developed in partnership with Leelyn Management, Jobs Connect was introduced to connect work-seekers with employers.
It links businesses, particularly SMEs and corporates, to the appropriate talent, and provides work-readiness training opportunities to job-seekers across Cape Town. It can be accessed via mobile phone or desktop and is data-free for MTN and Vodacom users. Candidates selected for interviews are automatically notified via SMS or WhatsApp.
Currently, 929 positions are advertised on Jobs Connect for Cape Town-based opportunities, spanning various industries and experience levels.
The platform recently expanded global opportunities to residents, with a group of 10 Capetonians, recruited and trained through the platform, arriving in Germany to start their bus driver jobs.
The bus drivers are beneficiaries of Jobs Connect’s first international recruitment drive, notes the city, adding that further opportunities for individuals in other fields who are willing to relocate to Germany will be advertised.
“From the outset, Jobs Connect was about showing that innovation in government doesn’t have to be complicated; it can be simple and impactful when you clearly identify a problem and design a solution that directly addresses it,” says Vos.
“Since it went live in early 2021, 170 000 people have accessed Jobs Connect and used it to build their employment profiles. I’ve had the fortune of joining the team at activations and helping first-time job-seekers to navigate the system, which includes in-depth numeracy and literacy assessments and detailed guidance on developing CVs that they use for work applications on Jobs Connect and other platforms.”
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