With South Africa’s unemployment rate rising to 32.9% in the first quarter of 2025, and youth unemployment reaching 46.1%, there is an urgent need to create meaningful pathways to employment, particularly for young people.

South Africa’s small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs) are the lifeblood of the country’s economy—driving innovation, creating jobs, and uplifting communities.

In South Africa, it is common for social cohesion and socio-economic upliftment initiatives to be launched without sufficient and meaningful engagement with local communities and municipal governments.

Future schooling scenarios by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) indicate that formal education, as we know it today, will shift towards technological advances that support individualised learning.

Amid South Africa’s celebration of Social Development Month, themed: “Working together to build caring and sustainable communities,” the Impact Catalyst, remains committed to fostering public-private partnerships in South Africa to drive progress towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through transformative projects that bolster local economies and empower communities.