Key facts
- Status
- Check with the provider
- Provider
- Department of Tourism
- Study level
- TVET / college
- Last checked
- September 2026
No culinary skills intake was open on the Department of Tourism's website in September 2026, and the Department publishes no dates for the next one.
VerifiedThe National Department of Tourism trains unemployed young South Africans in kitchen and food service skills as part of its youth skills development work. These culinary skills programmes are short, accredited courses with a stipend, run in chosen provinces with training providers and hospitality employers. The Department also runs a separate route for chefs who are already working but have no formal qualification. Both are described below, from the Department’s skills development programmes page and its own statements on past groups.
Kitchen skills covered in 3, 6 and 12 month courses
The Department defines the culinary skills programmes as covering every skill related to preparing food, for unemployed youth who want a career in tourism and hospitality. Courses run for three, six or twelve months. The skills on offer include, but are not limited to:
- food safety and hygiene;
- baking and pastry;
- grilling;
- food pairing;
- fast food;
- food and beverages;
- professional cookery.
Participants are paid a monthly stipend while they train and receive an accredited certificate when they complete the course. The Department does not publish the stipend amount, which provinces the next courses will run in, or how many places each course has.
Who the Department selects
The selection criteria on the Department’s page are: age 18 to 35; South African citizenship, proved with a certified ID copy; being unemployed, with youth with disabilities included; proof of residence; and certified copies of a tourism and hospitality qualification and any other relevant certificates. Applicants write a motivational letter, and a person who took part in a Department of Tourism learnership or skills programme before has to declare it there.
The qualification requirement is worth checking against each call. When Minister Patricia de Lille described the youth skills programmes in an April 2024 speech, she said they target unemployed people aged 18 to 35 who have a matric certificate, and named the Chefs Training Programme (Professional Cookery), Food Safety Quality Assurers training and the Hospitality Youth Training Programme in food and beverage among them.
How earlier cookery and food service groups were run
The Department’s graduations page gives the clearest picture of what a culinary intake looks like. Both programmes below lasted one year and were split into 30% theory and 70% workplace training, with hospitality businesses hosting the practical part.
| Programme | Provinces and places | Qualification | Graduations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chefs / Professional Cookery (started 2021) | Free State 120, Northern Cape 60 | National Certificate in Professional Cookery, accredited by CATHSSETA | 110 in Bloemfontein on 1 December 2022; 41 in Kimberley on 6 December 2022 |
| Food and Beverages Services | Eastern Cape 100, Western Cape 140, Northern Cape 100 | National Certificate in Food and Beverages, accredited by CATHSSETA | 55 in East London on 8 December 2022 |
Chef qualification for cooks already in a kitchen
Working cooks without a certificate are served by a different programme: Artisan Recognition of Prior Learning (ARPL) for chefs. It assesses what the chef already knows and leads to the Chef occupational qualification (SAQA ID 101697) at NQF level 5. The Department’s criteria are age 19 or older, South African citizenship, at least three years’ experience as a chef in a brigaded kitchen, and the ability to speak, read and write English. This route is aimed at employed chefs rather than unemployed youth, and the Department’s page does not mention a stipend for it.
In a March 2026 statement, the Department said 50 chefs from Mpumalanga and Limpopo went through the programme in 2025 and that more than 260 chefs across several provinces had received trade certificates so far. A March 2025 statement on 44 Gauteng and Free State graduates notes that one chef’s employer applied on his behalf.
Hearing about the next intake
The Department publishes no application window for its culinary courses, and no call was open on its site in September 2026. Questions go to the skills development unit at skillsdevelopment@tourism.gov.za. Young people who want a full diploma rather than a short course can look at the tourism and hospitality bursaries list, including the SA Chefs Bill Gallagher bursary. The Department’s other funding is on its provider profile.
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