About UGM

UGM was officially launched during the National Graduate March on 3 July 2018 in Durban — a historic march that united previously fragmented graduate movements, including the "Hire a Graduate" campaign, under one national banner. Since then, UGM has organised and participated in marches and advocacy campaigns in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and the Western Cape, including demonstrations in Pretoria and Cape Town, while continuing to submit memoranda calling for graduate employment, internships and policy reform.

Director / President

Nkululeko Ndlovu
Degree in Accounting

Secretary General

Ncebo Mkhumbuza
Degree in Humanities

Registration

No. 2026/563264/07

Why We're Calling This a National Crisis

Unemployment has become a national emergency affecting millions of South Africans. According to Statistics South Africa, the country's official unemployment rate stood at 32.7% in the first quarter of 2026, with about 8.1 million people unemployed, while youth unemployment remains among the highest in the world. Graduate unemployment has also risen to 12.2%, meaning even those who invested in higher education are increasingly excluded from economic participation.

Declaring unemployment a national disaster would allow government to coordinate an urgent, whole-of-society response, mobilise resources across departments, fast-track employment programmes, and prioritise graduate absorption into both the public and private sectors. We believe unemployment threatens constitutional rights to dignity, equality and access to opportunities, making extraordinary intervention justified.