Learnerships 2026: Official Portals and How to Apply

In short: Apply for a 2026 learnership on the employer's own recruitment portal, never through a WhatsApp message, Facebook post or copy site. Sasol, ArcelorMittal, Eskom and Transnet all post learnerships and training posts on their portals, listed below with what each asks for and its status on 22 September 2026. Most ask for Grade 12. Applying is always free: Sasol, ArcelorMittal and Clover each state in writing that they never ask applicants for money. Search interest in learnerships peaks every January, so register your profiles from November.

What a Learnership Is

A learnership is a fixed-term programme that combines classroom learning with work at a real employer and ends in a registered qualification. Transnet describes it as a "structured learning process to gain theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the workplace leading to National Qualifications Framework (NQF)" qualification. You sign a learner agreement for its length, which runs from about a year to three years, and most learnerships pay a monthly allowance, or stipend, set by the employer.

Learnerships are funded through the sector education and training authorities (SETAs). Services SETA, for example, describes its role as disbursing grants to employers and skills development providers so they can train employed and unemployed learners. That is why you apply to an employer or training provider, not to the SETA: the SETA pays for the training, the employer hosts you.

How to Apply Properly

Start from the company's own website. Open its careers page yourself, and follow its link to the recruitment portal. The portals are listed below.
Create a profile once and keep it up to date. Upload your ID, CV and matric certificate as clear scans. Portals such as Sasol's and CCBA's then notify you when a matching post is loaded.
Search for more than one word. Employers call these posts learnerships, apprenticeships, "in training" posts or YES programme posts.
Read the minimum requirements and the closing date, and apply before it. Complete any online assessments you are sent.
Never pay. Not for the application, the assessment, a uniform, a medical or "placement".

Need a CV first? Our free CV builder makes a one-page South African CV as a PDF, and this guide covers writing one with no work experience.

Employers With Learnerships Confirmed at Source

Checked on each employer's own site or portal on 22 September 2026.

Sasol

Sasol lists learnerships in chemical plant operations, instrumentation and control, electrical, fitting, turning, boilermaking, welding and rigging. It asks for a completed National Senior Certificate with a pass in Mathematics (or Technical Mathematics), English and Physical (or Technical) Science. Apply through Sasol's career portal at jobs.sasol.com, where you can create a profile and get notified of new posts. Sasol's learnership page gave no 2026 or 2027 intake dates on 22 September 2026. It states: "Sasol will never request you to make any cash deposit/payments as part of the recruitment process."

ArcelorMittal South Africa

ArcelorMittal's Production Learnership 2026 trained process operators in Vanderbijlpark under a 36-month learner agreement. It asked for Grade 12 with English at 45% and Mathematics at 40%, or Mathematics Literacy at 50%, and said permanent employment afterwards is not guaranteed. It closed on 31 January 2026, so watch ArcelorMittal's recruitment portal (arcelormittalsa.ci.hr) for the next intake. The listing states that ArcelorMittal "will not ask for any money for apprenticeship or production learnership".

Eskom

Eskom's careers page sends applicants to its recruitment portal, eskomcareers.ci.hr. On 22 September 2026 it listed Graduate in Training posts closing on 2 October 2026 and Technician in Training posts closing on 5 October 2026, but no learnerships. Eskom's own careers page also carried a notice that its recruitment website was temporarily unavailable, so if the portal will not load, wait rather than trusting a copy. Our Eskom scam guide shows the fakes.

Transnet

Transnet runs apprenticeships ("work-based learning under the supervision and guidance of a skilled and qualified Artisan"), learnerships, and work-integrated learning for students who need practical experience to finish a qualification. It recruits through the Transnet talent portal, linked from transnet.net/careers. Its programme page gave no 2026 dates on 22 September 2026.

Other Employers: Where to Check

These employers are widely reported to run learnerships, but their 2026 intakes could not be confirmed on their own sites on 22 September 2026. Their official portals are the place to look.

Employer	Official portal	Status on 22 September 2026
SAB (South African Breweries)	Workday portal, linked from sab.co.za/careers	No learnership listed that we could read
Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA)	ccba.erecruit.co, linked from ccbagroup.com/careers	No learnership mentioned on the careers page
Clover	clover.graduate.erecruit.co, linked from clover.co.za	Learnerships (0) and YES Programme (0) listed
Capitec	careers.capitecbank.co.za	"No open positions matching learnership"

Learnerships Without Matric

Most employer learnerships ask for Grade 12, and the technical ones ask for maths and science too, as Sasol's and ArcelorMittal's requirements above show. Options without matric are fewer and usually shorter: the Department of Employment and Labour advertises skills programmes funded by the UIF's Labour Activation Programme on labour.gov.za, and some have asked for less than matric. Our guide to getting a job with no experience or matric covers the other routes.

Be most careful here. "No matric needed" is a favourite line in fake adverts, because it reaches the people with the fewest other options.

How to Spot a Fake Learnership

Walk away if

You are asked to pay for anything: registration, admin, a uniform, a medical, a "slot".
The advert tells you to apply by WhatsApp, or to send your ID to a personal number.
It promises a stipend and a job to everyone who applies.
You cannot find the same post on the company's own website.

Fees

Real learnerships are free to apply for, and the employers say so themselves. Clover's careers page: "Clover does not (nor do any of the organisations that recruit on our behalf) ever ask for money or payments from applicants at any point in the recruitment process." A request for money is the single surest sign of a scam.

The "UIF ITR learnership" and other stipend adverts

The UIF does fund learnerships and skills programmes: the Department of Employment and Labour says its Labour Activation Programme "funds multi-year training programmes such as skills development, learnerships, and apprenticeships." But the "UIF ITR Learnership Programme 2026" that fills search results appears only on aggregator sites, which give its stipend as R2,000 on some and R3,000 on others. We could not find it on the UIF's or the department's own websites. That does not make it fake, but it means you should confirm it at a labour centre before you hand anyone your ID, and never pay to join.

WhatsApp and Facebook adverts

Most fake learnerships arrive as a Facebook post or a forwarded WhatsApp message with a big company's name, a generous stipend and a number to message. The company's real posts are on its portal. Our guides to WhatsApp job scams and Facebook job scams show how they work.

Sites that sound official

Many sites with "SETA", "youth" or "careers" in their names are private websites that republish adverts. Some are accurate; many copy each other, which is how one learnership ends up with two stipends and two closing dates. A SETA's own website is different: merSETA, for one, publishes a fraud hotline, 0800 333 057. Before you apply, find the same post on the employer's own site.

More detail, with the Eskom, PRASA and police examples: learnership scams in South Africa. For any advert at all, the fake job post checklist applies, and you can look up a number or email address against the reports we hold.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I apply for a learnership in 2026?

Apply on the employer's own careers portal, not through a Facebook post, WhatsApp message or copy site. Create a profile, upload your ID, CV and matric certificate, and search for "learnership". Large employers such as Sasol, ArcelorMittal, Eskom and Transnet post their learnerships on their recruitment portals, listed on this page. Applying is free.

Do I have to pay to apply for a learnership?

No. A real learnership never charges an application, registration, admin or "placement" fee. Sasol, ArcelorMittal and Clover all say in writing on their own sites that they never ask applicants for money. Anyone who asks you to pay to secure a learnership is running a scam.

Can I get a learnership without matric?

Some, but fewer. Most employer learnerships ask for Grade 12: ArcelorMittal's 2026 production learnership asked for English at 45% and Mathematics at 40% (or Maths Literacy at 50%), and Sasol asks for maths, science and English. Some Department of Employment and Labour skills programmes, advertised on labour.gov.za, have asked for less. The advert states the minimum, so read it before you apply.

Is the UIF ITR learnership real?

The UIF does fund learnerships, through its Labour Activation Programme. We could not find the "UIF ITR learnership" advertised on the UIF's or the Department of Employment and Labour's own websites, only on aggregator sites that disagree about the stipend. Do not pay anyone to apply, and confirm it at your nearest labour centre before handing over your ID.

When do learnerships open for 2026 and 2027?

There is no single opening date. Each employer opens its own intake: ArcelorMittal's 2026 production learnership closed on 31 January 2026, while Eskom's portal was listing graduate and technician training posts closing in early October 2026. Search interest peaks in January, so check the portals from November and register profiles early.

Employer portals and statuses checked: 22 September 2026

Related Guides

Sources

A learnership you have to pay for is not a learnership. Find the post on the company's own site, and apply there.