Staff Reporter
On 25 September 2026, the Department of Employment and Labour through Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) through its finance institution the National Employment Fund (NEF) officially launched a R1-billion to provide seed capital to develop, finance black business and promote job creation.
In the partnership UIF will contribute R500 million, with an equal R500 million contribution from the NEF.
The programme is intended to recruit 200,000 unemployed people in 2026/27, as part of a commitment to reach 605,000 beneficiaries over the medium term.
The Minister of Employment and Labour Nomakhosazana Meth said the significance of this partnership lies in what two institutions can achieve together.
They are investing in the people who build businesses, take risks, serve customers and create work in our communities.
“We are also recognising a central lesson of South Africa’s development strategy. If we want employment at scale, we must enable small businesses to start, survive and grow,” urged Meth. “The UIF brings its employment and labour activation mandate. The NEF brings its enterprise finance and development capability. By joining those strengths, they can support businesses with the potential to grow and employ more people.”
The UIF and NEF Fund partnership aimed at expanding access to finance for qualifying black-owned and black-managed businesses, supporting enterprise sustainability and growth, and contributing to the creation and retention of jobs.
UIF is an entity of the Department of Employment and Labour that provides short- term relief when individuals are unemployed or are unable to work because of maternity, adoption and parental leave or illness; and provides relief to the
dependants of a deceased contributor. While the NEF is an organisation that promotes and facilitate black economic
participation by providing financial and non-financial support to black-owned and managed businesses.
The UIF-NEF partnership provides an opportunity to combine public resources with development-finance expertise to support qualifying enterprises with growth potential.
The partnership is aligned to the UIF’s broader Labour Activation Programmes framework, which places emphasis on interventions and partnerships that contribute to employment creation, training, entrepreneurship and economic participation.
“I also set out the repositioning of the Labour Activation Programme around three connected pillars: skills shaped by real demand; workplace experience and placements; and enterprise support that enables more small, medium and micro enterprises (MSMEs) to create work.
The objective of LAP is to enhance employability, enable entrepreneurship and preserve jobs.
Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Zuko Godlimpi said the Fund’s launch was a demonstration of a practical partnership that seeks to improve coordination among government institutions.
Godlimpi added that the scale of unemployment) requires greater coordination among institutions responsible for job creation, enterprise development and infrastructure development.
He highlighted that the Fund will be measured by the extent to which it not only improves the bottom line, but also promotes job creation: “We want to see growth of enterprises that pull out many outs of unemployment.”
Comments are closed.