Organisational change is a constant reality, but the willingness of employees to embrace change often determines the success or failure of such initiatives. While there are several measures of readiness, few have been validated in the South African context, particularly in state-owned enterprises where the unique cultural and organisational dynamics can influence employee perceptions. The aim of this study was to validate the Readiness Toward Change Scale (RTCS) in the South African organisational context, thereby creating a reliable and contextually relevant measure of employee readiness for change. Effective organisational change management requires diagnostic tools that are psychometrically sound and culturally sensitive. By validating the RTCS, this study responds to the need for locally tested instruments that can inform change strategies and reduce resistance in South African organisations. Guided by a positivist philosophy and a quantitative research approach, the study surveyed employees of a South African state-owned enterprise (N = 373). An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted to examine the dimensionality, validity and reliability of the RTCS. The analyses revealed four different dimensions of readiness toward change and thus confirmed the multidimensional structure of the scale. The model showed acceptable goodness of fit indices and confirmed the reliability and validity of the RTCS in the South African context. This study extends the literature on readiness toward change by validating the construct in a developing country and demonstrating the psychometric suitability of the RTCS for research. In practice, it provides managers, HR professionals and policy makers with a diagnostic tool to assess and improve employee readiness for change, enabling targeted interventions for successful organisational change.