Staff Reporter

The Youth Sector within the National Dialogue will launch pilot community action dialogues in six provinces as part of efforts to turn young people’s demands for economic inclusion into practical local plans.

The dialogues will be rolled out in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Limpopo and the Northern Cape, the Youth Sector said in a statement on Wednesday, as South Africa marked Youth Month and 50 years since the June 16, 1976 uprising.

Dates were not supplied for the dialogues.

“These pilot dialogues represent an important step towards building an inclusive and participatory National Dialogue process that is rooted in the lived realities of young people and communities,” the Youth Sector said.

“While the generation of 1976 fought against legislated exclusion and political oppression, today the struggle confronting young people has evolved into a battle against economic exclusion.”

The Youth Sector said the country’s young population should be a driver of development, but instead reflected “a painful contradiction” in which young people were “educated but unemployed, ambitious but unsupported, innovative but denied access to capital, markets and economic opportunities”.

The Youth Sector Engagement identified four priority areas: economic transformation, employment and entrepreneurship; policy, governance and youth participation; health and social development; and education and skills.

The sector called on government, business, labour, civil society, development partners and other stakeholders to move beyond speeches and commit to practical action on youth economic inclusion, entrepreneurship, skills development, job creation and access to finance.

It said young people remained underrepresented in decision-making despite South Africa having one of the youngest populations on the continent, and warned that policy commitments had to translate into “meaningful inclusion and economic outcomes”.

On education, the statement said too many young people were qualified but unemployed, and called for education, skills development and entrepreneurship support to be better aligned with economic opportunities.

“As we commemorate the legacy of June 16, we reaffirm that the struggle of this generation is for economic justice, dignity and opportunity,” the Youth Sector said.

“The spirit of 1976 demands that we move from dialogue to action, from promises to implementation, and from fragmentation to collective action.”

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By Lebone Rodah Mosima

Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has urged young South Africans to take their place in the country’s energy transition, saying new generation, transmission, electrification and critical-minerals value chains could create businesses, jobs and wider electricity access.

Ramokgopa was speaking at the Youth in Energy Conference and Awards, hosted in partnership with the African Youths in Energy Network at Focus Rooms in Modderfontein, Johannesburg.

The conference focused on connecting young talent with opportunities in the energy sector, including renewable energy, transmission infrastructure, electrification, nuclear, critical minerals and regional electricity markets.

“We need to achieve energy sovereignty in the country, so that we have to draw from various energy sources. There is a multiplicity of energy sources,” Ramokgopa said.

“There’s an opportunity for us to participate in what you call the nuclear fuel cycle, on mining, the enrichment, the fabrication, and so forth.”

Ramokgopa said young entrepreneurs should look for opportunities in renewable energy, particularly innovations that could help lower the cost of electricity and expand access to underserved communities.

He said funding would be critical to turning promising ideas into scalable projects that could be introduced into the market.

Through its funding houses, he said, such ideas must create opportunities for scalability to enable market introduction.

“One of the opportunities that we share with you is on the transmission side. You can generate this electricity using solar, using wind, but you must transport the electrons,” he said.

“They must get to a point where they are needed, where they are going to be consumed, and for that to happen, we need to build a transmission infrastructure.”

Ramokgopa said young people should see South Africa’s remaining electricity-access gaps not only as a crisis, but also as an opportunity to develop technologies and business models that can power rural and poor communities.

He said about 1.6 million households still lacked access to electricity, while millions more people across Africa remained without reliable power.

“I just shared with you that 600 million people on the continent don’t have access to electricity,” he said.

“It’s only us, South Africa, where we are at about 92% of penetration. Sub-Saharan Africa outside the Sahara desert, people don’t have access to electricity. In the region, outside, people don’t have access to electricity.”

Ramokgopa said new electricity demand, including demand linked to data centres, was creating further opportunities for young people to develop energy projects and participate in the wider electricity market.

He said South Africa’s energy plans envisaged about 105GW of new generation capacity by 2039, alongside a major expansion of the transmission network.

He outlined the scale of the investment opportunity, citing about 14,500km of new transmission lines worth R440 billion, and new generation capacity worth about R2.23 trillion, in the context of South Africa’s GDP of about R7.63 trillion.

“So what we are doing in the energy sector, in the next 12 years, constitutes 30% of the total size of the South African economy,” he said.

“This presents an opportunity that will be available for the next 12 to 18 years, and young people are urged to position themselves to participate in this space.”

Ramokgopa also said South Africa needed to do more to benefit from the critical minerals required for the global decarbonisation agenda.

He said the country should build local ownership and participation across the value chain, from production and beneficiation to technology applications, electricity generation and infrastructure maintenance.

“So you, as young people, must choose your place in the entire value chain. We must use our endowments to benefit and transform the lives of our people,” he said.

Ramokgopa said the opportunities were not limited to South Africa, as the department was also working on electricity corridors to support regional energy security.

He encouraged young entrepreneurs to develop scalable energy projects that could be expanded beyond South Africa and into the rest of the continent, saying the department was willing to support viable ideas and innovations through policy interventions.

“We are going to support you and ensure that we are able to succeed in this agenda. I say to the team that the best measure of our success is not that the lights are on,” he said.

“It’s how many jobs we create in keeping the lights on, how many new skills we develop and bring on board, and how many entrepreneurs participate in maintaining this infrastructure.”

Ramokgopa said young people’s participation would be vital to building an inclusive energy industry, even though the transition would not automatically end localised electricity interruptions such as load reduction.

He said electricity should be used as a tool to fight poverty, exclusion and ignorance, and to help children remain in school, learn productively and prepare for future participation in the economy.

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Staff Reporter

The Construction Industry Development Board (cidb) has called on women using digital technologies and sustainable materials in construction to enter its 2026 Empowerment and Recognition of Women in Construction Awards.

The cidb said on Tuesday that South Africa’s construction industry remained behind global leaders in the adoption of drones, artificial intelligence and other Construction 4.0 tools, with uptake still limited and uneven across the sector.

However, it said there was growing evidence of increased participation and influence by women in the industry, including in technical and leadership roles, contributing to efforts to accelerate digital transformation and close the technology gap.

The board said a recent University of Pretoria study, BIM Adoption and Implementation Trends in the South African AEC Industry, found that while 73% of industry participants were aware of these technologies, practical implementation was still being held back by cost barriers, skills gaps and resistance to change.

“As cidb, we know there are women who are adopting these technologies more and more in their businesses. Through recent engagements at events such as Big 5 Construct South Africa and our own roadshows, we’ve seen real enthusiasm across the industry to start implementing technologies that will improve how we build,” cidb CEO Bongani Dladla said.

Dladla said the cidb wanted this year’s awards to highlight women who were already adopting and implementing new technologies in the sector.

“We are calling on women who are pioneering the integration of digital technologies and sustainable construction materials into traditional building practices, to enter our Innovative Entity of the Year category.”

He said adopting new technology was not only about staying current, but could lead to safer construction sites, reduce costly rework, improve coordination across trades, and boost profitability and sustainability across the built environment.

The ERWIC Awards also include Interior Design and Build Project of the Year, which recognises women-owned projects demonstrating excellence in delivery and meeting client requirements, and Professional Team of the Year, which honours collaborative teams where women hold central leadership roles.

The awards also include Manufacturing Entity of the Year, which spotlights women leading in construction materials production and prefabrication, an area often overlooked in industry awards, as well as Mentoring Entity of the Year, which recognises organisations with effective mentoring programmes supporting women’s career development.

Other categories include Woman Mentor of the Year, honouring individuals dedicated to guiding the next generation of women in construction, and Transformation Entity of the Year, celebrating organisations making measurable progress on gender diversity and inclusion.

The Women with Disability Contractor of the Year category recognises a disabled woman or women-owned entity within the construction industry who is making a difference and contributing to the upliftment and support of other disabled women within the industry.

The cidb said it was particularly urging women to enter because they remained significantly underrepresented in the construction sector.

“The ERWIC Awards aim to encourage excellence among women and motivate women in construction by promoting visible role models, especially in lower-grade construction categories where representation is even more critical. Entry provides recognition of excellence, validates transformation efforts, creates industry visibility for groundbreaking work, and opens networking opportunities with industry leaders,” Dladla said.

Entries close on July 1, 2026 and can be submitted at www.erwicawards-cidb.co.za.

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By Lebone Rodah Mosima

Isuzu Motors South Africa and READ Educational Trust are moving their three-year Rally to Read literacy programme into a sustainability phase after reporting improved literacy results at three Gqeberha primary schools.

The programme, implemented at Khulile Primary School, St Albans Primary and Kayser Ngxwana Primary School, has focused on teacher development, learner support, reading materials, community engagement and tools to track learner progress.

At Khulile Primary School in Motherwell, Grade 3 English First Additional Language marks improved from an average of 58.74% in 2023 to 68.70% in 2025, while Grade 4 results rose from 57.28% to 60.93% over the same period, according to the statement.

“Through Rally to Read, our focus has been on building a strong literacy foundation while equipping schools with practical tools to sustain progress beyond the programme,” said Nandi Matomela, Department Executive: Corporate Affairs at Isuzu Motors South Africa.

The programme has included teacher training, age-appropriate books, Early Grade Reading Assessment tools, home-reading initiatives and digital literacy support.

“The improvements achieved over this period reflects the impact of structured, sustained collaboration, highlighting the importance of consistent support, capacity-building, and strong partnerships in driving meaningful change, and we remain committed to ensuring that schools are equipped to sustain and build on this progress over the long term,” Matomela said.

As the schools enter an independence phase, the focus will shift to consolidating gains and strengthening each school’s ability to continue improving literacy outcomes without direct programme support.

Isuzu said it would continue supporting the initiative while identifying a new group of beneficiary schools in Nelson Mandela Bay for the next phase.

To support the sustainability phase, Isuzu and READ Educational Trust are providing READ boxes containing books by South African authors, including Refiloe Moahloli’s We Are One and Sihle Nontshokweni’s Wanda series.

“Literacy programmes like Rally to Read do more than improve reading outcomes; they open up worlds, strengthen critical thinking, and empower children to shape their future. By investing in reading, we nurture a confident and capable generation,” said Nontshokweni.

Moahloli said representation in children’s books was important for building confidence.

“When children see themselves and their lives reflected in the stories they read, they experience them as a celebration of who they are. Reading books that enable this therefore becomes an exciting and enlightening journey, building self-esteem and self-awareness, affirming their importance and inherent value in society,” she said.

Linda Miranda Nonxuba, principal of Khulile Primary School, said the programme had made a meaningful difference.

“We have seen improved learner confidence, stronger reading outcomes, and inspired learners. The support provided has strengthened our teaching approach, and the school is now better positioned to sustain and build on this progress.”

Isuzu said its broader support for schools had also included the refurbishment of St Albans Primary School and the donation of 320 pairs of school shoes to learners at Kayser Ngxwana Primary School through its Adopt-a-School initiative.

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By Levy Masiteng 

The University of Cape Town (UCT) has retained its position as Africa’s leading university in the QS World University Rankings 2027, despite dropping 34 places globally.

UCT was ranked 184th in the latest rankings, published on 18 June, making it the highest-ranked university on the continent.

The institution said that although it had fallen from 150th position in the 2026 rankings, it had maintained its place among the world’s top 200 universities for a fourth consecutive year.

“This achievement places UCT among the world’s top 2%, out of 8 808 universities evaluated, and reflects the dedication, excellence and resilience of our staff and students,” said Vice-Chancellor Professor Mosa Moshabela.

“Our continued leadership in Africa demonstrates the enduring strength of UCT’s academic project and our contribution to scholarship, research, innovation and societal impact.”

The university improved its academic reputation ranking to 179th globally, rising four places from the previous year. UCT said this reflected growing recognition from academics around the world for the quality and impact of its teaching and research.

UCT also said it improved in employment outcomes, rising to 40th globally from 49th in the previous rankings.

Among its other achievements, UCT said it was ranked in the global top 50 for international research networks and in the top 100 for sustainability.

The university placed 31st globally for international research collaboration and joint 59th for sustainability performance.

“While rankings do not define who we are, they do provide useful external benchmarks of our performance,” Moshabela said.

“UCT’s continued position as Africa’s leading university reflects the collective efforts of our community and our unwavering commitment to excellence in teaching, research, innovation and social responsiveness.”

He added that the university remained focused on strengthening academic excellence, expanding research impact, enhancing graduate success and deepening international partnerships.

“We should take pride in this achievement while recognising that there is always room to do better,” Moshabela said.

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By Lebone Rodah Mosima

Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela has welcomed the launch of the Charlotte Maxeke Educational Fund, saying it should help keep young women in higher education, particularly those pursuing science-related studies.

The fund was launched during the 125th Graduation Anniversary Memorial Lecture of Charlotte Makgomo Mannya-Maxeke.

“Tonight, in this very programme, the Charlotte Maxeke Educational Fund is launched: private generosity reaching out a hand to a young woman whose studies are at risk, with a special care for those pursuing the sciences. The same degree Maxeke earned,” Manamela said.

“I want to say to the founders of that Fund, and to the philanthropists and institutions in this room: this is how it should be. The public purse and the private hand, pulling the same young person through the same open door. The education she earned in exile is, at last, working for our democracy at home.”

Manamela used the lecture to link the fund to Maxeke’s own journey from singer to scholar, activist and organiser. He said Maxeke travelled abroad with an African choir in the late 19th century before enrolling at Wilberforce University in Ohio.

“One hundred and twenty-five years ago today on the 20th of June 1901, a young woman from this country walked across a stage in Ohio and was handed a degree. A Bachelor of Science. She was the first Black woman in this part of the world ever to hold one. Her name was Charlotte Makgomo Mannya-Maxeke,” he said.

Manamela said Maxeke’s legacy was not only about academic achievement, but about using education to serve others.

“She could have stayed where her degree was worth something. She returned instead to a land where her qualification was an insult to the order of things — and she put every page of it to work. The education she earned abroad, she spent at home, on her people, for her people,” he said.

He said South Africa had made major progress since Maxeke’s time, with women now making up the majority of university students.

“The country that refused Charlotte Maxeke a university has become a country in which the majority of our university students are women. Read that sentence slowly. The doors that were bolted against her are the doors through which her granddaughters now pour,” Manamela said.

“That is not an accident of history. It is the work of a democracy that decided education would no longer be a privilege rationed by birth.”

However, he said the work of expanding access was not complete, particularly in student funding.

“We have built a national financial aid system that has carried millions of young people — most of them young women, many of them the first in their families to see the inside of a lecture hall — from the township and the village to the graduation stage,” he said.

“We are not finished, and I will not pretend to you that we are. We are reforming how we fund our students so that the promise is not only generous but durable — so that the child who qualifies in 2040 finds the door as open as the child who qualifies today.”

Manamela said the central lesson of Maxeke’s life was that education should not only benefit the individual.

“That is the whole of it. That is the difference between an education that liberates a people and a qualification that merely rescues an individual,” he said.

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