A better future for South Africa’s Youth
A third of South Africa’s population is made up of young people. This youth bulge has the potential to transform South Africa’s economic and social reality.
Through our Create Change resources and publications we aim to equip individuals, communities and organisations with information and tools that will enable them to bring about the next big changes in South Africa.
The large collection of statistics describing the state of youth in South Africa paints a bleak picture, and does little to adjust the prevailing perception of young people as a ‘ticking time bomb’ – an idle, entitled, and terrifying group who threaten the stability of the country.
But seeing young people like this is a generalisation – and a choice; one that affects their access to opportunities, while eroding our ability to help mould their social-mindedness, optimism and energy into a powerful force to drive economic development and social cohesion. This edition of Create Change starts from that sense of possibility.
The stories of Siyabonga, Virata, Luthando, Dean and Marguerite (and the many others we spoke to) are intimate and authentic. They reveal the meaning of the statistics in a personal way, but never let you lose the sense of the dynamism and tenaciousness with which young people are weaving their unique lives, regardless of the hand they’ve been dealt.
It aims to provide business people, leaders in government and civil society, as well as ordinary South Africans, with the information, tools and ideas needed to move past perceptions – and to give young people the step up and support they need to live out their potential, not only for their sake, but for the sake of all of us.
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See them here.
How can we build real and imminent possibility for young people? Here, rather than going for the big systemic changes like overhauling the education system, we look at what ordinary South Africans, in their personal and professional capacity, can do to effect this change. Each of these suggestions, if multiplied, could become levers for much larger change.
