The concept "not in education, employment or training" (NEET) has only recently been deployed in academic analyses and policy documents in South Africa. This article uses the concept to highlight the acute levels of youth unemployment experienced in that country. It discusses the causal factors, and adopts the concept of "social capital" as a powerful explanatory device, particularly in explaining why the young unemployed fail to access the first job. The discussion then proceeds to critique South African state efforts in resolving the NEET problem. The strategies of the state have failed in most cases, or where successful, have not expanded sufficiently to the requisite scale. In the conclusion, the discussion notes the relative success of many non-governmental organisations (NGOs)--operating at the micro level--in facilitating access to the first job. This suggests the need for more micro-level, qualitative research into the conditions that define local labour markets, and the role played by key organisational intermediaries such as NGOs which succeed where the state has failed--in successfully placing the young unemployed in work. (Contains 4 notes, 1 figure, and 3 tables.)