On the Record – 5 Million jobs in 5 years

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On The Record 2026 | Fixing SA, one job at a time

This year’s edition of News24’s On the Record summit is dedicated to finding solutions to our biggest national problem: unemployment.

We’ll hear from global and local thinkers and practitioners on economic growth, job creation, BEE, youth unemployment, crime and corruption, and the future of our cities.

You’re invited to follow and engage with the bold ideas and powerful conversations as they unfold from 19–20 March 2026 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

And that’s a wrap on On The Record 2026! Thank you all for joining, in person and on the livestream, and sharing your insights, thoughts, and input with us.

20 Mar 2026, 17:26

DA federal council chairperson and Joburg mayoral hopeful Helen Zille takes the stage to join News24 profile writer Annelise Burgess in a fireside chat.

20 Mar 2026, 16:30

South Africa’s construction industry could create up to 2 million jobs over the next decade through the government’s R230-billion infrastructure programme, but only if the country tackles the construction mafia disrupting projects worth R60 billion, speeds up approval processes, and addresses widespread corruption and skills shortages that currently threaten to limit job creation to just 200 000 to 400 000 positions.

20 Mar 2026, 15:30

South Africa must move beyond conventional urban regeneration to develop planned city extensions that can absorb the expected 25 million new urban residents by 2063, while creating more than two million jobs through large-scale construction and manufacturing programmes supported by a Sovereign Land Fund, transforming the housing crisis into an engine for economic growth and skills development.

20 Mar 2026, 14:48

South Africa’s cities are entering a period of profound and increasing strain.

Rapid population growth, a deeply unequal housing market, and persistently high unemployment have converged into a structural crisis that the country can no longer manage through conventional tools.

20 Mar 2026, 14:41

Next, News24 Business editor Helena Wasserman looks to the future and SA’s city developments. The ‘Build a city, build a future’ panel features a presentation by Gita Goven, the CEO of ARG Design, an architect, sustainability specialist, and thought leader in regenerative city building.

Wasserman and Goven are joined by OTR convenor Ralph Freese, Rudi Dicks, the head of the Project Management Office in the Private Office of the President, SA minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson.

20 Mar 2026, 14:35

Police reform lies at the heart of broader criminal justice reform. Without an overhaul of the South African Police Service – its culture, organisation, and leadership – it will remain broken.

Senior police leadership should be selected on qualifications, merit, and policing experience – not used to enable corruption or advance party factions. The appointment of the National Commissioner should be public, and the selection process for other critical posts should also be reconsidered.

20 Mar 2026, 13:58

The criminal justice system (CJS) is the ecosystem responsible for upholding the rule of law, detecting and prosecuting crime, and removing offenders from society to limit future harm. It includes the police and its constituent parts, the Hawks and Crime Intelligence, the National Prosecuting Authority and its Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), the courts and judiciary, and the Department of Correctional Services.

Other key links include the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), SARS, the Financial Intelligence Centre, and ancillary institutions such as Home Affairs.

20 Mar 2026, 13:45

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On The Record 2026 | Fixing SA, one job at a time