President Cyril Ramaphosa promised in his State of the Nation address to boost South Africa’s ailing water infrastructure as Gauteng residents protested this week over taps running dry.
There were also undertakings to deploy soldiers in gangster-ridden areas and create more jobs for the country’s youth, half of whom are unemployed.
But there wasn’t much mention of digital infrastructure or jobs, says Anna Collard, senior vice-president of content strategy and CISO advisor at KnowBe4 Africa, which is from where sustainable economic growth can be unleashed.
During the State of the Nation Address, President Ramaphosa announced a plan to deploy military forces to support police efforts in areas heavily affected by gangsterism.
The emphasis on providing increased safety and security recognises the plight of many South Africans who are affected by crime of all sorts. But not all crimefighting interventions can be supported by additional shows of force.
The CSIR estimates that cybercrime costs the South African economy approximately R2,2-billion per year. Phishing remains the primary entry point, accounting for over 90% of all cyberattacks, while there has been a huge surge in ransomware and digital banking fraud over the past few years.
Whereas company data breaches and corporate ransomware attacks attract the most news coverage, the individuals working at those companies, their friends and family, and their children are also targets – and victims.
From crippling financial losses to damaging social engineering tactics, cybercrime causes suffering across all types of targets from companies themselves right through to individuals falling for scams.
According to a report by the Global Anti Scam Alliance, South Africans on average encounter a scam nearly every day.
But when it comes to cyber threats, deploying security forces isn’t an option the state has at its disposal to ensure increased safety.
The tools that do work involve micro interventions at the personal level, as well as macro-level shifts in corporate priorities as well as state employment drives.
Securing digital jobs for the future
While President Ramaphosa said that the government has created over 1,5-million jobs since 2020 through the Presidential Employment Stimulus, much more needs to be done to lower joblessness.
“If we’re serious about jobs in a country where approximately half of the youth are unemployed, digital skills should become a real pathway to work,” says Collard. This can be done by broadening what is meant by digital skills.
“Digital infrastructure is just as critical as water and electricity supply, ports and logistics because it underpins everything else,” she asserts. “You can’t improve water infrastructure, modernise ports, stabilise energy supply or attract investment without secure digital systems and skilled people to run them. When digital trust collapses, so does economic confidence.”
Training people for the digital world of cyber threats involves implementing cultural shifts at a company level, but at the state-level skills building is often seen as a difficult, expensive and long term project.
Collard believes that, on a national level, the skills that need to be cultivated for meaningful change in both cyber resilience as well as unemployment levels aren’t that complicated or difficult to attain at all.
“Not everyone needs to code,” she explains. “Cyber awareness, data literacy, ethical tech use and cybersecurity roles can open doors, especially when paired with mentorship and real-world exposure. Cybersecurity, done right, can be a ladder out of unemployment, not an elite club.”
She highlights the success of the MiDO Academy, founded by the UK government and KnowBe4 in 2023, where 75% of graduating students have been placed into learnership or permanent jobs.
“By empowering young people to gain meaningful employment, we can at the same time alleviate the pressure on businesses to upskill and integrate new digital and cyber talent,” she concludes.