By Nontokozo Gemani
- Ndlovu, from Tsakane, earns R3,800 a month interning, spending R2,000 on transport and R700 on rent before buying any food.
- The law does not set a minimum stipend for interns, so employers can legally pay far less than minimum wage.
A 2026 Department of Employment and Labour graduate internship programme lists a stipend of R7,860.50 a month. Zamokuhle Ndlovu’s internship pays her R3,800.
After almost two years of being rejected for jobs because she lacked experience, Ndlovu thought her internship was finally her breakthrough. Six months into her 12 month internship, her stipend is already gone before she can spend it on anything else.
Ndlovu is from Tsakane. She spends about R2,000 on transport and R700 on rent, leaving her with about R1,100 for food and everything else.
“It seems like I have been working for transport and rent, which is R700, then I have to buy food on the same stipend,” she says.
Ndlovu says she took the internship to gain experience, learn and have an income after struggling to find work. Her placement is through the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, in partnership with the Media, Information and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority, known as MICT SETA, where she is doing an internship in Business Administration and Analysis.
Stipends vary depending on the programme, qualification and employer, because the law does not set one minimum that every internship must pay.
The Department of Employment and Labour’s own 2026 graduate internship programme listed a stipend of R7,860.50 a month for several graduate positions, more than double what Ndlovu earns for hers.
The national minimum wage rose to R30.23 an hour from 1 March 2026, which the Department calculates as R5,239.46 a month for a standard eight hour, five day week. But the law allows separate, lower allowances for qualifying learnership agreements, so that minimum wage figure does not automatically apply to every internship.
Marketing intern Lesego Sebothoma, also from Tsakane, earns R5,000 a month through an internship placed by the South African Council for Graduates Cooperative, known as SACGRA. She asked that her host company not be named, since she is still completing the internship and is worried about facing consequences at work if it is identified.
She spends almost R2,500 on transport travelling to her company’s office in Sandton, and contributes another R500 towards food at home, leaving her with about R2,000 for everything else.
“We are expected to come to work every day and show up with proper clothes for the office on a very little stipend,” she says.
Sebothoma says she carries lunch to work to save money. She also says her family expects her to contribute at home because they see her as someone who is working and earning a decent salary.
“At home they expect you to contribute because they do not understand what an internship is and think that you are working and getting paid a decent salary.”
She says internships can feel like they are meant for young people who have financial support at home.
“This has made me think that internships are for people who have someone from home who gives them an allowance, not for us with a lot of responsibilities.”
The two interns’ experiences come as young people continue to face a difficult job market. Statistics South Africa says 5 million people aged 15 to 34 were unemployed in the second quarter of 2026, with youth unemployment at 47.4%.
For young people struggling to enter the job market, internships can provide workplace experience many employers require, but there is no law guaranteeing what that experience actually pays. For Ndlovu and Sebothoma, the more immediate issue is making a stipend last while paying the costs of simply getting to work and staying there.
Ndlovu thought the internship would be her breakthrough. Instead, she says much of her stipend goes towards simply getting to work and having a place to stay.
Pictured above: [no image provided]
Image source: File
