Graduates remain the least unemployed, but rising job pressure is keeping more students at university. For many, a degree is no longer the finish line.
Unemployment statistics have risen across all categories.
Graduate unemployment has risen slightly, but graduates are largely unaffected.
But some students are pursuing postgraduate studies as they can’t find jobs.
According to Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey over 340 000 more people in South Africa now sit without work. University graduates still have the lowest unemployment rate in South Africa, even though it has picked up by 1.8% in the first quarter of the year
Overall, the graduate unemployment rate is 12.2%. Reflecting the growing pressure of South Africa’s competitive and slow-growing labour market. But graduates remain significantly less likely to be unemployed than people with and without matric certificates.
Yet, behind these statistics, another trend has emerged: more students are choosing to stay in university and pursue postgraduate studies. The question is: why?
A graph showing the postgraduate enrolment percentage of the total student enrolment at Wits since 2019. Graphic by Zebrena Ralph
Lindelwe Cili, a team leader for Career Services at Counselling and Careers Development Unit (CCDU), described the link between unemployment and pursuing postgraduate studies as something that does not have a straightforward “yes or no” answer.
She says graduates are not pursuing post graduate studies solely to avoid unemployment. Instead, the decision is shaped by a mix of career requirements, competitiveness in the job market, and individual goals. “Whenever we engage with students, I don’t think we see them using postgrad as a fallback option”, Cili told Wits Vuvuzela.
“One can pursue post-grad to deepen their specialization in the field…and also align with what the industry wants. Also, it depends on the type of degree programme that you are in. If you are in a professional degree, pursuing post-grad would be based on career goals”. This highlights an important nuance: postgraduate studies are often a strategic career move, not a delay tactic.
For some students, furthering their studies is not optional. Honours in Clinical Psychology student, Thabang Ramafoko, said furthering his studies is essential to achieving his career goals. “I want to be a clinical psychologist and that (post graduate studies) is the only way.”
However, the job market still plays a significant role in students’ decisions.
“I furthered my studies because of the job market and because of the degree I done. I did a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Environmental Studies…You have to further your studies and specialise more so now I am doing my honours in Geography. It increases my chances of employment and also, I just want to be disgustingly educated,” said Honours in Geography student Kamogelo Mokoena.
For some people, the question is no longer whether to study or not, but how much further they need to go.
FEATURED IMAGE: A picture of the Postgraduate Club at the University of Witwatersrand. Image: Zebrena Ralph
Some people still measure degrees based on its employability. Is this a fair standard to use when degrees are not obtained solely to get jobs?
Are Bachelor of Arts (BA) degrees really “useless”? Many people on social media think that it is simply because of the apparent employment challenges BA graduates face. This idea is further portrayed by governments cutting funding for specifically humanities degrees. As seen in the United Kingdom, the University of Hertfordshire scrapped courses such as History, English Literature and Linguistics to name a few, due to a declining demand making the courses no longer financially viable.
The common perception of BA degrees is that, because they are not professional or specialised degrees, they are mostly academic, and unemployment among BA graduates is high. It would be unfair for people to use this criteria to label Bachelor of Arts degrees as “useless”.
According to Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey (2025), “possessing a tertiary education, especially a degree, enhances one’s likelihood of securing employment.” The report also shows the more employable sectors for the youth such as Elementary occupations (which require short training) at 25.3%, trade at 24.5%, sales and services at 20.0%, community and social services at 19.8%. This highlights that unemployment is not tied to a specific field of study but is embedded in a country’s economic challenges. The real divide is between graduates and non-graduates in a struggling economy like South Africa’s, but to assume that employment is the only reason degrees are pursued is incorrect.
Graphic showing the top four employable field in South Africa according to Statistics Soth Africa Quarterly Labour Force 2025 report. By: Zebrena Ralph
Professor Paul Ashwin, from Lancaster University, argues that “rather than the employment and salaries of graduates, the central educational purpose of university education is to transform students through their engagement with knowledge”.
Degrees are obtained for different reasons. While some people prepare for specific career paths like healthcare or law, the purpose of higher education goes far beyond employment. A university degree enables knowledge acquisition, critical thinking and personal growth. To label a degree as “useless” because some graduates — including Bachelor of Arts graduates — face unemployment is inaccurate and reveals a deeper misunderstanding of what a university degree is meant to achieve.
BA career paths are unique, hence the stigma. Graduates from specialised fields like Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) often move into clearly labelled graduate programmes, making these career paths appear neat and measurable. BA graduates, however, rarely follow a linear path. Their broad skills allow them to move into media, marketing, governance, research and corporate roles, often shifting between industries over time. These careers are diverse and non-linear, thus harder to track statistically. Tracey Ashington, a graduate recruiter, explains, that “many jobs are not advertised at all… This is known as the hidden job market.”
BA careers are therefore not nonexistent — they are simply harder to map.
Ironically, employers often complain about graduates lacking the very skills a BA degree develops. According to LinkedIn, adaptability, teamwork, problem-solving and communication skills are seen as core workplace competencies. In an era of automated and artificial intelligence, the ability to interpret information, understand people and think ethically are becoming more valuable.
Perhaps the biggest problem with the ‘useless BA degree’ narrative is that the sole purpose of studying is employment. Reducing tertiary education to a degree being a ticket to getting a job ignores its role in developing thinkers, citizens and problem-solvers, not just employees.
FEATURED IMAGE: Graphic showing the top four employable field in South Africa according to Statistics Soth Africa Quarterly Labour Force 2025 report. By: Zebrena Ralph
The Wits Sports Council (WSC) hosted its third annual sports games event, the WSC Games, on April, 25, 2026. Witsies ditched their usual sporting codes to compete in challenges aimed at building unity.
The Wits Sports Council turned the WSC Games into an Amazing Race-style event to promote unity across sports clubs.
The games encouraged cross-club support and collaborations beyond sport.
Despite some challenges, the turnout was high and the gold team won the 2026 WSC Amazing Race Games.
This year, a new format of the WSC Games was introduced as an Amazing Race styled event, where different Wits sports clubs were grouped into six teams, yellow, gold, silver, purple, orange and blue. Each team consisted of four different sports clubs in order create comradery and unity among different sports instead of allowing each sport to operate in isolation.
Tennis, tai chi and kabujustu yacht, karate, hockey, boxing and mountain climbing, to name a few, are some of the sporting codes who participated in the WSC Amazing Race Games. Each team had to complete different challenges that consisted of learning different sport’s skills for points. “The goal was to get more integration in the Wits sports community —have people interact with each other more,” Tristan Wilkinson, WSC’s safety and maintenance officer, told Wits Vuvuzela.
Naledi Makhetha, Wits Yacht Club member, participating in rock climbing at the 2026 WSC Amazing Race Games. Photo by Zebrena Ralph
The WSC Amazing Race Games emphasised unity among different sporting codes, shifting focus away from division and competition between clubs. “It’s about building partnerships that will help us support each other in everything” said Mamela Nyandeni, the WSC Chair and SRC Sports chair.
Nyandeni explained how the cross-code collaboration at this event can encourage athletes to support each other’s fundraisers and show up for one another at matches. “It’s not always just financial (support). You showing up to a final means a lot”.
Asanda Msomi, participant and Tai Chi and Kobujutsu athlete, expressed how this event allows for possible collaboration outside of the sports field as well. “One of the netball players is a film student and I am from fine arts —we are both in the Arts. Today we got the chance to interact, and I guess now when I see them, I can approach them and possibly collaborate as artists,” Msomi told Wits Vuvuzela.
While the event fostered collaboration and camaraderie among athletes, the WSC faced a few challenges behind the scenes. Initially, 22 of Wits’ sporting codes were supposed to participate, but unfortunately some sporting codes pulled out on the morning of the event due to tournaments and matches. “But the turnout is good. It’s possibly our highest,” Nyandeni told Wits Vuvuzela.
As the finale of the WSC Amazing Race arrived, the final challenge was a relay race with 100 points up for grabs, making it the event’s showstopper. The purple team, which consisted of tang so doo, hockey and snow ski club, won the relay race, but the gold team, made up of the boxing club, took the overall victory and trophy as they were crowned the WSC Games 2026 winner.
The gold team being crowned the WSC Games 2026 winner. Photo by Zebrena Ralph
FEATURED IMAGE: The gold team being crowned the WSC Games 2026 winner. Photo by Zebrena Ralph
Wits students win their second film competition despite facing finance, logistics, and resource challenges.
Three Wit students won the Nikon ZR Filmmaker Challenge 2026.
As part of the competition, their film was premiered in the SK IMAX Cinema in the Mall of Africa.
The trio plans to start a joint film company.
Three Wits film and television students won the 2026 Nikon ZR Filmmaker Challenge for their short film, Threads of a Memory, which was screened as part of the competition at the SK IMAX Cinema in the Mall of Africa on March, 24.
The three, Sesethu Ledwaba, Blessing Tsebe and Hanani Mbam were partly sponsored by Nikon South Africa who provided them with a Nikon ZR camera and three lenses.
Photo of the three winners with film equipment. Photo: Zebrena Ralph
The trio told Wits Vuvuzela that they competed against some renowned filmmakers in a selection process that they saw only the best eight films being premiered at the Ster Kineker IMAX Cinema.
They had the task of outsourcing their own lighting and tripods which they got from the Wits Film and Television Department. On top of this, they funded their own transport, props, and food for their crew by doing side jobs as students, completing production in just three days. Mbam told Wits Vuvuzela that, “luckily for me I had been working at my res from January, so at least that money I was able to make made things a little easier.”
This win comes after the trio won the Italian-South African Short Film Competition in 2025 with their film, The Art of Tricolore.
Speaking to Wits Vuvuzela, Tsebe said, “It shows that we are a winning formula to some point.”
Despite the Nikon ZR Filmmaker Challenge not having a cash prize, the trio won the Nikon ZR camera, which is a high-performance professional camera.
“It’s better than money” said Tsebe who added that they plan to use it to create more of their own films as a joint film company.
FEATURED IMAGE: Photo of the three winners with film equipment. Photo: Zebrena Ralph
Since her announcement as the Democratic Alliance’s mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, Helen Zille has dominated national headlines. In this bonus episode of We Should Be Writing podcast, hosts Lulah Mapiye and Bonolo Mokonoto dissect a media meet-and-greet with the mayoral hopeful. From her extensive political résumé to her controversial public utterance, we examine why the Democratic Alliance has chosen Hellen Zille as their candidate for the 2027 local mayoral elections. Additionally, […]
