SA Youth (SAYouth.mobi) Registration 2026: How to Sign Up for Jobs, EPWP and Learnerships

If you’re a young South African looking for your first job, a learnership, or a way into government work programmes, there’s a strong chance you’ll end up needing a SAYouth.mobi profile — over 5.7 million young people already have one. This guide walks through exactly how to register, what it actually gets you access to, and what changed recently that makes it more useful than it used to be.

Last updated: August 2026. SAYouth.mobi is managed by the Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator on behalf of the Presidency; always register through the official zero-rated address to avoid imitation sites.

What Is SA Youth, Exactly?

SA Youth (officially SAYouth.mobi) is South Africa’s largest free platform connecting young people with work, training and skills opportunities in one place. Instead of separately hunting down jobs, learnerships, and government programmes, you build one profile — which doubles as your CV — and the platform matches you to opportunities from employers, SETAs, and government programmes as they open up.

It’s part of the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention, managed day-to-day by the Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator in partnership with the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA). That backing is worth knowing, because it’s also why the platform can plug directly into official government programmes like EPWP and BEEI, rather than just listing private-sector vacancies.

Who Can Register?

You can register if you meet all of the following:

• You’re between 18 and 34 years old (some specific programmes extend this to 35)
• You hold a valid South African ID (green ID book or Smart ID card), a refugee ID, or a valid SA work permit
• You’re unemployed and not currently in full-time education or training
• You have a South African postal code so the platform can match you locally

There’s no minimum education requirement to register — the platform was specifically built to include people without matric. Some individual learnerships or specialised roles set their own education requirements, but registration itself doesn’t.

One thing worth knowing: some funded placements ask whether you’re currently receiving another form of government income support, since certain opportunities are aimed specifically at people without other support. That’s a question specific to individual opportunities though, not a blanket rule that stops you from registering on the platform itself — don’t let that put you off signing up.

What You Can Actually Access Through SA Youth

One profile opens the door to several distinct programmes, which is where a lot of first-time users get confused about what SA Youth actually “is.” Here’s the breakdown:

Beyond opportunity matching, the platform also gives you free work-readiness content — CV writing, interview preparation, financial literacy and digital skills — plus SMS and WhatsApp alerts whenever something matching your profile opens up.

How to Register, Step by Step

1. On your phone, go to sayouth.mobi — this address is zero-rated, so it won’t use your mobile data on the major networks
2. Tap to create a new profile and enter your ID number and cellphone number
3. Enter your postal code so the platform can match you to opportunities near you
4. Answer the profile questionnaire — this generates your CV automatically, so answer it properly rather than rushing through it
5. Confirm your details with the OTP sent to your phone
6. Your dashboard will immediately start showing opportunities matched to your profile

You don’t need to upload a CV to get started — your answers become your CV. You can optionally upload a PDF CV later from your profile page if you already have one.

EPWP in 2026: What Actually Changed

If you’ve tried to get onto an EPWP project before and found it depended heavily on who you knew at your local ward councillor’s office, this is worth knowing: since May 2026, SA Youth became the official digital recruitment channel for EPWP, specifically to reduce that kind of local gatekeeping. You can now register your interest directly through your SA Youth profile rather than relying solely on a municipal office visit.

EPWP at a Glance	Detail
Scale	Over 1.7 million work opportunities created so far under Phase V
Pay rate	Around R15–R17 per hour under the Ministerial Determination
Typical monthly stipend	Roughly R2,500–R5,500, depending on hours and sector
Minimum age	18 (16 in some specific projects)
Qualifications needed	None for most general worker roles; specialised roles (healthcare workers, ECD, artisans) need relevant experience

Your local municipal office still keeps its own EPWP database for area-specific infrastructure and cleaning projects, so registering both on SA Youth and at your municipal customer care centre in parallel gives you the widest reach while the digital rollout continues.

How to Get Matched Faster

Registering is the start, not the finish — your profile needs to actually stand out to the matching system. A profile that’s less than about 80% complete tends to fall down the ranking, so it’s worth going back and finishing every section rather than leaving gaps. Check the platform regularly rather than registering once and forgetting about it, since new opportunities open continuously and many have their own deadlines.

Common Registration Problems, Solved

Frequently Asked Questions