By Charmaine Ndlela
The Culture, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport Sector Education and Training Authority (CATHSSETA) wants to explore a graduate programme with McDonald’s South Africa that could provide employment pathways for young people with degrees and diplomas.
CATHSSETA CEO Marks Thibela told Inside Education that the proposed programme could potentially take in graduates with qualifications in hospitality and place them in areas including accounting, finance, human resources and law.
He said the programme could include graduates who already hold degrees and diplomas, including qualifications in hospitality, with participants being placed after completing the programme.
“Those who have degrees and diplomas in hospitality, we put them into a programme, then once they complete it, they get placed,” he said.
“Then they will be placed at the head office of McDonald’s, not necessarily at the outlets. That is the beauty of this programme, and we are so excited about it.”
Thibela said CATHSSETA wanted to replicate the employment-linked model with other employers and had engaged with major players in the fast-food sector, including KFC, Nando’s and Burger King.
He said the intention was to encourage employers to participate in skills programmes while committing to absorbing at least some of the young people who complete their training.
“We want an employer who’s honest, who’s coming in and says if we train these young people, I can absorb them, then we will work with you,” Thibela said.
He said employers could also co-fund initiatives with SETAs to increase the number of young people benefiting from employment-linked training.
The proposal comes as CATHSSETA seeks to shift the focus of skills development programmes from simply counting how many young people have been trained to measuring how many ultimately enter employment.
Thibela said the authority was considering using surplus funds to support graduate internship programmes, but stressed that employers would need to demonstrate a commitment to absorbing young people after training.
“Beyond the numbers, can we really proudly say those people have been employed? If an employer works with us, they must commit to absorbing one or two of them,” he said.
In his address at the 2nd Cohort McDonald’s/CATHSSETA Learnership Programme Launch at McDonald’s South Africa head office in Sandton, Thibela said SETAs had become accustomed over the years to measuring their success through the number of beneficiaries placed in programmes.
He added that training thousands of young people without creating pathways into employment would do little to address South Africa’s unemployment crisis.
“It can’t be just hundreds and thousands of young people that graduate and at the end, zero absorption, because that doesn’t really help the problem of unemployment in this country,” Thibela said.
The proposed graduate programme would build on the existing partnership between CATHSSETA and McDonald’s. Thibela said the second cohort had been expanded to 2,370 learners.
He said CATHSSETA had committed R89 million to the latest programme, compared with R44 million committed in 2024.
Thibela said the increased investment followed lessons learnt from the first cohort, with the authority reviewing factors that contributed to learner attrition.
He identified stipends and the recruitment process among the issues that had been examined.
Thibela said CATHSSETA had also partnered with Harambee to strengthen recruitment and reach young people in rural areas.
“It would be great if out of the 2,300, we talk about 50% plus coming from rural areas and people with disabilities,” he said.
The learnership leads to a National Certificate in Fast Food Services and combines classroom-based education with practical workplace experience.
Thibela also pointed to the wider socioeconomic impact of youth employment, particularly in rural communities.
He said when one young person secures employment, the benefits can extend to family members who depend on that income.
Thibela said CATHSSETA had initially been uncertain whether the programme would progress to a second phase, but the outcomes of the first cohort had demonstrated its potential.
“We never thought we would reach phase two, and here we are,” he said.
“We are going to look for a partner who will help us absorb whatever number of learners that can make a difference. And to us, it is sending a message out there that SETAs are able to work with employers and create sustainable employment. We are not only number crunching,” Thibela said.
McDonald’s chief people officer, Dr Mamello Masia, said the programme provides learners with an opportunity to gain both an accredited qualification and practical experience.
Learners spend about 30% of their time in classrooms and 70% gaining hands-on experience in McDonald’s restaurants, according to Masia.
“The qualification is really going to be halfway through this programme, or rather the journey. It is the workplace experience that completes it, and turns it into a career,” Masia said.
She said the private sector had an important role to play in creating pathways between education and employment, particularly as South Africa continues to face high youth unemployment.
According to the latest Statistics South Africa figures, the country’s official unemployment rate stood at 33.6% in the second quarter of 2026, while unemployment among the broader youth population aged 15 to 34 reached 47.4%.
Masia also cited an unemployment rate of 60.9% among young people aged 15 to 24, a figure recorded by Stats SA in the first quarter of 2026.
The latest second-quarter figures showed that 36.4% of the approximately 10.4 million young people aged 15 to 24 were not in employment, education or training, equivalent to about 3.8 million people.
“It is not enough to create opportunities. We must equip young people with skills, experience and support they need to access sustainable employment,” Masia said.
The first cohort of the McDonald’s-CATHSSETA programme has already produced employment outcomes. McDonald’s said in October 2025 that, of the 1,400 learners trained, 476 had been permanently absorbed into the company.
The company also reported that more than 75% of those no longer in the programme were employed full-time in the industry, while 1.5% had moved into self-employment.
For the 2,370 learners entering the current programme, Masia urged them to make full use of the opportunity, emphasising that workplace experience would be critical to turning their qualifications into careers.
“It is important to make the best of it. I always say there is a big eye watching. Just learn right now, money will follow you,” Masia said.
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