At a time when the unemployment figures are shooting sky-high, DJ Zinhle is perceived as a person who doesn't have sympathy for the struggling youth. This comes after a clip of a radio interview surfaced on social media this weekend where the musician and businesswoman said most youmg people were unemployable.

DJ Zinhle is insulting us here ?pic.twitter.com/7sL2L11Nu9

— ChrisExcel (@ChrisExcel102) May 18, 2024

"OUR YOUTH ARE UNEMPLOYABLE"

In the interview on 702, Zinhle said: "One thing about the South African youth is not just that they are unemployed, a lot of them are unemployable. They don't have the skills required. It bugs me how long it takes for us to fill positions as Era. Just to find the right person for our shops. It takes longer than it should in a country that has so much unemployment.' DJ Zinhle who has fashion stores in some parts of the country said she struggled to fill positions at a store in Witbank, Mpumalanga, which she recently opened.

A PLACE OF PRIVILEGE

Although she came across as someone who is speaking from a position of privilege, DJ Zinhle quickly became a trending topic on social media, with people calling her names. Some asked what position she found hard to fill because she just needed shop assistants, a job they say anyone can do with training, while others criticised her for the carelessness of her statement. Social media users called her out. As her name shot up the trending list, DJ Zinhle quickly protected her brand by issuing an online apology, trying to justify and explaining that she wasn't attacking the youth.

I'm glad we are talking about this.

Firstly. I apologize if I offended anyone.

I wasn't attacking the youth at all, as a small business owner I do employ & train people, but this doesn't even start to solve the problems we are facing as the South African youth. I could do more…

— #ERAbyDJZinhle #ZeeNation (@DJZinhle) May 19, 2024

APOLOGY

She said her statement was not meant to offend anyone. She justified that she wasn't attacking the youth and explained that as a black business owner, she does employ and empower young people. "Firstly, I apologise if I offended anyone. I wasn't attacking the youth at all. I do employ and train people, but this doesn't even start to solve the problems we are facing as South African youth. I could do more with support from the government." DJ Zinhle also explained that she was trying to find ways of coming up with skills development to empower the unemployed youth. She asked: "How do we up-skill our youth so that they are ready for employment? Are we in denial that we are not getting the jobs we want because we do not have the skills required?" She also implied that most people did not fully understand her words during her interview. She said her words were lost in translation because not all the people are getting the education they need to be employable. "You guys are speaking from a one-sided view of graduates who have matric, a diploma etc - and can't get jobs. I'm not saying they don't need the assistance, they do but we need to think about the youth holistically," she said.