Samkelisiwe Youth Development
What does your company do?
Samkelisiwe Youth Development was borne out of sincere love, passion for youth and women empowerment, with a firm belief in their potential and desire to enable them to play active role in changing their lives and taking charge of their future.
Our goal is to support and create an enabling environment for our young people to learn, grow and become economically active citizens.
Samkelisiwe Youth Development has adopted the three pillars of education, employability and entreprenuership as a framework for our economic inclusion strategy:
1. Education
We have partnered with local High School at Inanda, we host annual career exhibitions, workshops and provide students advisory services especially grade 11 and grade 12 learners, and youth empowerment summit. and young women conference.
2. Employability: Skills Development programmes
We have number of initiates which are aimed at helping job seekers find meaningful and sustainable employment. and much of this is centred around skills development, our focus on youth empowerment is to also assists graduates who may require additional soft skills and work experience that would make them more employable and as well as placement on Work-Integrated
Learning and voluntary work placements.
3. Entreprenuership Skills
The small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) sector is a vital engine of growth in South Africa. Samkelisiwe Youth Development provide a holistic business support support services, which includes business registration, business start-ups workshops and support to youth and women. With confidence and hope to reduce youth and women unemployment associated poverty levels and inequality by providing opportunities for youth to grow , sustain their businesses and have an enhanced quality of life.
What is your biggest success?
As a young woman who grew up at Inanda Township which is classified as one of the less developed and faced with high rate of youth unemployment and poverty.
My greatest achievement was to follow my passion, by registering Samkelisiwe Youth Development in 2016 and starting my community youth development journey 8 years ago. Giving back to my community by sharing my God given talents, gifts and my skills to my community.
2024 greatest achievement was to be selected by Graca Machel Trust to be the part of 10 months Women Creating Wealth- Intergenerational Programme.
What has been your biggest hurdle?
One of my biggest hurdle, It was last year June 2023. When I took a biggest decision to close my 2 years Fast Food Takeaways Shop.
The business was not doing well, daily sales dropped drastically, competition levels within the area was very high and staff commitment and morale was low.
I was financial drained, stressful and struggling to meet monthly payments obligations and the only for me solution was painful but to close the business.