The president was speaking during the launch of a report of the International Labour Organisation’s Global Commission on “The Future of Work Report” in Durban on Friday.
The launch coincided with the ILO’s 60th anniversary in Africa and 100 years of the UN agency’s existence.
While technology had blurred the lines between work and private time, it could and should be used to expand choice and work-life balance, the president said.
“In the 20th century, we established that labour is not a commodity. In the 21st century, we must ensure it is not a robot,” Ramaphosa said.
He added: “If people are to benefit from new opportunities, they need to re-skill and up-skill throughout their lives,” Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven co-chair the 27-member Global Commission, whose report was first launched to the international community at the ILO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in January.
The Durban launch was attended by ILO director general Guy Ryder, Namibian president and chair of the Southern African Development Community, Haige Geingob, and labour ministers from four SADC countries of South Africa, Malawi, Namibia and Zambia – as well as Sierra Leone of West Africa.