Johannesburg – Youth unemployment is one of the biggest problems in South Africa.
According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the first quarter of 2022, the unemployment rate in SA was 63,9% for those aged 15-24 and 42,1% for those aged 25-34 years, while at the time the official national rate stood at 34,5%.
To tackle this pressing issue, Brand South Africa is giving youths an opportunity to challenge the unemployment crisis, through its “Play Your Part Ignite” campaign around the country.
The campaign encourages the youth to use the alternative of being entrepreneurs to fight unemployment.
Since its launch in July 2022, the Play Your Part Ignite campaign has acted as a driver for the entrepreneurial spirit of budding business owners and has assisted with the guidance needed to bring their businesses and business ideas to life.
The campaign is specifically focused on assisting participants with constructing a condensed and incisive elevator pitch, as most of the time entrepreneurs are not always given the opportunity to present their businesses to potential investors.
The campaign has visited places such as Polokwane, Johannesburg, and Durban and will go to Cape Town on 27 July 2023.
Some of the aspiring entrepreneurs, who have been empowered by the Play Your Part Ignite masterclass, include Portia Mavhungu, the founder of PRDLS and inventor of Para-Tube, and Phumelela Mkhize, founder of Eyethu Energy Projects.
Mkhize took first place with his innovative business idea about creating a customised wind turbine that can generate electricity with the slightest brush of the wind.
Mkhize will also be mentored by Play Your Part Ambassador Paul Nzimande.
The 22-year-old Adams Mission, Durban-born and bred Mkhize says he formed his company Eyethu Energy projects with a former desk mate and a friend from high school.
“Currently the company has only two employees, myself and a friend who is also a business partner,” says Mkhize.
“We are in the research and development phase of our first project as a company, working with a few companies to make the finished product and test it in the market”.
Mkhize adds: “We form strategic partnerships with foreign power companies that have new energy solutions that haven’t been implemented in the African continent”.
He said Eyethu Energy Projects has formed several partnerships with local government, companies, and embassies.
“We then introduce those energy solutions in our country and Africa as a whole, by means of acquiring a subsidiary/franchise or merger with the foreign power company.”
Mkhize said when he attended the Brand South Africa masterclass he wasn’t “really planning to pitch his business idea”.
“I just went to learn and network,” Mkhize says nonchalantly.
“However, the speakers at the event made us write our business plans and projects on pieces of paper.
“That’s how our idea came out tops”.
Mkhize says that after completing his matric at Umlazi Comprehensive Technical High School, he already had a lot of ideas.
He said his passion for technology and innovation inspired him to work on business ideas.
“My ambition, enthusiasm, and eagerness to learn pushed me forward throughout all failures and obstacles that (among others) have led me to this current business venture,” says Mkhize.
The young entrepreneur says he wants to see the company as an independent power supply in the future.
“I see Eyethu Energy Project as an independent power producer in the next 5 years, and a company that plays an effective role in our country’s clean energy supply,” says Mkhize.
“Our long-term vision is to own and operate a significant portfolio of projects by retaining a percentage shareholding of every project we implement.
“We aim to become South Africa’s number one supplier in new energy solutions that are unique.”
Mkhize says he gets to work on business ventures during the day and doubles up as a nightshift worker.
“I am on many start-up company boards, and I am also in the Provincial Executive Committee of a non-profit organisation called Youth in Business South Africa,” says Mkhize.
“I learn best through self-education and experience, I read a lot and I’m very big on empowering my fellow young people to be risk-takers.”
Brand South Africa Acting CEO Sithembile Ntombela stated that “South Africa is a country with endless possibilities, a young population that is talented and skilled.
“Innovation and creativity are at the heart of who we are,” says Ntombela.
“Play Your Part Ignite is an enabling platform for the youth of today to create new opportunities for the youth of tomorrow”.
