How many jobs are vulnerable to automation? Plenty of people ask that question, and plenty of people try to give numerical answers. A recent study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said that about 46 percent of jobs have a better-than-even chance of being automated.

Despite Africa’s impressive growth in past 25 years and its entry into the digital economy, the job market continues to be in a depressed state as youth unemployment continues to rise.

“The manager wants to see you in his office.” When these words are spoken, the stress begins to build. You wonder if you’re in trouble; your heart rate increases; the palms of your hands start to get sweaty; your stomach feels like your breakfast suddenly turned into a brick; it is hard to stay calm.

When the short stocky man in the front row started to shout at me, I was horrified. He waved his hands as he growled in a deep voice. He blamed me for “this Fourth Industrial Revolution”.

Since the advent of democracy in 1994, at no point have more than half of the working-age population in South Africa (ages 15 to 64) been gainfully employed. 

South Africa is sitting on a ticking time bomb — or a once-in-a-generation opportunity. With one of the world’s youngest populations among major emerging economies and the highest youth unemployment rates globally, the country must invest now in skills and higher education or risk a deepening crisis.