For a long time, work felt like something that existed just beyond reach.
In Cape Town, I would wake up early, phone in hand, scrolling through opportunities that all seemed to ask for the same things: experience I did not yet have, money I could not spend, or connections I did not know how to access.
Like many young people in my community, I was ready to work. What I lacked was a real way in.
Across South Africa, millions of young people face this reality every day. They are willing and capable but locked out of the economy by barriers that have nothing to do with effort. These barriers are structural: the cost of data, transport, printing CVs, and the familiar catch22 of needing experience to get a job, but a job to gain experience.
My own journey shifted in 2022 when I discovered sayouth.mobi a free, datafree online platform created to connect young people to work and learning opportunities.
For the first time, I could search and apply for opportunities without worrying about data costs or travelling long distances just to submit an application. It was simple, accessible and designed with young people in mind. I applied for a learnership, and in that same week, I was called for an interview.
SA Youth is operated by Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, a non- profit social enterprise that has spent the past 15 years working with partners across government, business and civil society to remove the barriers that keep young people out of the economy.
Today, the platform has supported over 4.6 million young people and enabled more than 1.6 million youth to access earning opportunities across South Africa.
For me, those numbers came to life in very real ways. Through SA Youth, I moved from being a work seeker to a learner, and then into permanent employment as a Development Facilitator. Along the way, I gained confidence, practical experience and a clearer sense of where I fit into the world of work. I was no longer navigating the system alone or in the dark.
What stood out most was the feeling of being seen for my potential, not just my past. The platform opened doors that had always felt closed and made the process of job seeking feel less overwhelming and more human.
Today, I find myself on the other side of that journey. In my current role, I support young people who stand exactly where I once stood uncertain, hopeful, and searching for a way forward. I recognise the frustration and the quiet resilience it takes to keep applying when opportunities feel scarce. And I know, from experience, how life-changing access can be.
Harambee’s work goes beyond simply linking young people to jobs. Through strong partnerships with employers, training providers and government initiatives such as SA Youth, which is part of the Presidential Youth
Employment Intervention, Harambee is helping to reform how entry level hiring works so that it becomes more inclusive, efficient and fair for both young people and employers.
Youth unemployment cannot be solved by one organisation or one solution. It requires functioning systems, collaboration across sectors, and a collective commitment to seeing young people as assets rather than risks.
For communities across Cape Town, platforms such as SA Youth offer more than just access to jobs. They offer dignity, visibility and the reassurance that the future is still open.
My journey is just one among millions. But it is proof that when barriers are removed and potential is met with opportunity, young lives change – and when young lives change, entire communities are positively impacted.