Every morning, a symphony of success stories drives me to my desk – narratives of hope, resilience, and the transformative power of opportunity. Given the youth unemployment figures in South Africa, you might find that hard to believe, but I have the privilege of witnessing first-hand how our work at YES is helping to close this gap.
In a country grappling with millions unable to find work, countless young people face a future marked by uncertainty. But we’re witnessing a different story unfold. Every day, we see inspiring examples of young individuals who, with the right opportunities, are transforming their lives and contributing meaningfully to society and their communities.
A very personal story for me – one I tell often – is the story of Asanda Nqoko, a Top 35 Alumnus who started at YES as an IT intern in our tech department. He came to me, saying he had an interest in marketing, and started helping with some work on our website. Later he told me he had a passion for photography and asked if he could take some pictures for our Spring Day event.
When we saw the pictures, we were blown away – we knew he was going to be a star. Three years later he has worked for the likes of Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar, and he’s travelling the world. When we hire him for gigs, he often sends one of his team members, because he’s just so busy.
But his story is more than just a success story – because it really changed the way we operate. We levelled up the way we looked at our photography opportunities, for instance, because he came in with more talent than we knew what to do with – and it showed us in a very practical way how fresh talent in a business can change really make a difference, and impact.
And what’s truly amazing to me is that he’s not some sort of outlier. We encounter these stories every day. There’s Gcina Twala, another Top 35 Alumna, who made her start as part of the Youth Content Collective (YCC) and is now a junior brand manager for one of the top B2B advertising agencies in the country and feeds 500 people per week in Alexandra through her own NPO.
Beyond the current Top 35 group there are more inspiring youth still coming out of the programme. There’s Moshe Matabologa, who joined the YES programme with a big car brand on the tech side of the business; he came to the team, and said, “There’s an HR problem I think I can solve.” They sent him to the UK for some training, and he’s now implementing a new workflow system globally.
Kgomotso Seku at Nedbank, who was the first person in her family to get a degree (in maths!). Today, having been through the YES programme, she’s a data analyst at Nedbank, and has bought her mother a house.
Many companies are reluctant to hire young people, because they don’t have experience. But another big car brand and YES client, for instance, has told us that using YES changed their entire hiring policy. They realised that young people are great at selling cars, because they’re prepared to find ways to do it differently – including after church on a Sunday.
We all started somewhere, and it took time before the value we brought to the organisation exceeded the time and energy it took to upskill us – it pays to bear that in mind.
But it’s also about taking the long view. Our government of national unity has the potential to start creating an uptick in economic activity and growth, but we will be wholly unprepared to take advantage of the opportunities that present if we don’t find and nurture young people now who can lead us on this journey.
Because these young people are our future leaders, and we need to start finding them and empowering them now.
We live in an age of immediate information, where everything’s at your fingertips, and sometimes it can be difficult to envision the long game. Investing in the youth today is not going to mean the change happens tomorrow. Like compound interest, it’s a long game – we’re likely only going to reap the real benefits in 10 to 15 years.
But the time to turn the wheel is now, so that the ship takes a new course over the long term. By investing in and empowering our youth today, we can create a brighter future for South Africa, where young people are not only gainfully employed, but also become the leaders and innovators who drive the country’s economic and social progress in the years to come.