The issue of unemployment is a serious and personal one to many South Africans who wish to be absorbed into the job market and President Cyril Ramaphosa hit a nerve when he told a woman to "keep searching," when she told him that she was an unemployed graduate. The incident happened over the weekend when the President was doing a walkabout during an election campaign in Orange Farm. During the walkabout, Ramaphosa met Slindokuhle Khoza (23) a BA Communications graduate from the North West University.

In a video widely shared on social media, Khoza told the President that she was unemployed and has not found work since she graduated two years ago, and the President told her to keep searching. In an interview with Radio 702, the disappointed Khoza said she heard that Ramaphosa would be in her area and decided to seize that opportunity to talk to him hoping for good news. Khoza who has three younger siblings and an unemployed mother said she graduated in 2022 and has been looking for a job ever since. "I was very excited. I thought to myself, let me go there, maybe something will happen. I thought the conversation would go differently from how it went. I thought maybe someone would hook me up. At my age, I thought I would be the one to support my family. I have three younger siblings and an unemployed mother," she said. Khoza added that before she spoke to the president, she was advised to wear an ANC T-shirt by different people. "One of them even took my contact details." Khoza said whenever she watches her video with the president, she gets irritated. "I regret the way that conversation went. I felt disappointed when he said I should keep looking because I have been looking and I told him that. I was crushed," said.

Addressing the Orange Farm community, Ramaphosa said the ruling party will prioritise job creation. "The most important priority of the 7th administration which will be led by the African National Congress and as outlined in the People's Manifesto is job creation. This is our top priority - creating jobs, giving dignity back to our people, making sure we support the livelihood of our people. Ramaphosa's spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said the president referred Khoza on the SA youth mobi where she can register to get a job. "The SAYouth.mobi is a zero-rated platform for unemployed young people to access opportunities for learning and earning. Over 4.3 million young people are now engaged on the network and 1.6 million have so far secured opportunities," said Magwenya.