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Motus and YES - six years of driving youth employment across SA’s auto sector

Jun 11, 2026 Youth Employment Service (YES), Ravi Naidoo, Motus Group, Ockert Janse van Rensburg,


Motus and YES - six years of driving youth employment across SA’s auto sector

 

The Youth Employment Service (YES) and the Motus Group are marking six consecutive years of partnership, having created 3,375 quality work experiences for young South Africans since 2021, and injected more than R186 million into the economy through youth salaries.

 

According to naamsa, the automotive sector contributes 5,2% to the country’s gross domestic product and accounts for 15,6% of total exports. The sector has also been among the most committed participants in South Africa’s youth employment drive.

 

Motus, one of South Africa’s leading automotive groups, has demonstrated that commitment through six successive YES programme cycles – placing youth across eight provinces nationwide, with Gauteng accounting for the majority of placements at 71%. “Motus has been a steadfast partner in our mission to connect talented young South Africans with meaningful work experience,” says Ravi Naidoo, CEO of YES. “Six years and 3,375 young people later, the data speaks for itself: 51% of YES youth placed through Motus have gone on to find employment after completing the programme, and 11% have started their own businesses. This is what sustainable impact looks like in the automotive sector.”

 

"Motus believes that meaningful employment creates the possibility of a better future and as one of the country’s largest employers, we have a responsibility to train and equip the next generation. Our participation in the YES programme is a tangible expression of this commitment and a step towards building a more sustainable future. Over the past six years we have seen the YES-youth bring energy and fresh thinking to our business,” says Ockert Janse van Rensburg, CEO of the Motus Group.

 

The automotive industry is undergoing a historic transformation – from the shift toward electric vehicles and green technologies, to the growing integration of AI, digital systems and data-driven manufacturing. For the industry, this makes YES the pipeline of young, digitally skilled talent a strategic imperative.

 

YES participants placed through Motus have gained experience across a range of roles, from business development and administration to sales, customer service and logistics – building transferable skills applicable across the automotive value chain.

Every YES participant also has access to foundational AI training through the YES learning management system. This ensures that young people entering the sector are equipped not only for today’s roles, but for the digital future the industry is moving towards.

 

The gender profile of the programme reflects the sector’s broader transformation ambitions: 44% of Motus YES participants have been women, in an industry historically dominated by men. True digital transformation, as YES and its corporate partners have found, requires diverse teams – and this partnership is helping to build them. The broader automotive sector has created over 29 000 jobs through YES. Motus’s sustained commitment across six programme cycles demonstrates what is possible when private sector investment in youth is treated as a long-term strategy rather than a once-off initiative. As South Africa’s automotive industry continues its transition toward electrification and sustainable mobility, YES will work with Motus and its peers to place young people in roles that position them at the forefront of this change.

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