MZANSI youth must wake up, do things for themselves and stop relying on the government for handouts.
This is according to Sbusisiwe Myeni, the co-founder and CEO of Imbeleko Foundation.
The former banker told Daily Sun that she teaches young people from KwaNyuswa, KZN, to be independent and self-sufficient.
“I look at where we are now. We've become so dependent that everybody is so entitled that somebody is supposed to do something for them. It's not sustainable for us as a country, and I feel like we are going to hit a point where the government fails. I'm not saying our government will fail. I'm just saying that if we don't wake up and do things for ourselves, we are doomed," said Sbusisiwe.
The education activist started the foundation 13 years ago to honour her late twin sister. The idea was to help girl children dream big.
Sbusisiwe said she started with three girls but soon had more children under her wings.
She then decided to start an academy which also included boys.
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“I started the foundation as a promise to my twin sister. To date we have 75 kids who have gone through our boarding school programme that have graduated from institutions of higher learning. In 2024 we are adding another 15 so that will take it to 90 kids,” she said.
She said that among the graduates, is a doctor, chartered accountant and an engineer.
She said the academy was in partnership with the University of Cape Town online high school.
She said those who do not make it to the boarding school are supported through an after-school programme.
Her academy is also in partnership with two boarding schools, which are her alma mater, Inkamana High School, in Vryheid and Inanda Seminary in the north of Durban.
“Next year we will have about 55 kids on full scholarship funded by UCT online,” said Sbusisiwe.
She said her next move is to spread her vision across the province.
“We have just been approved as the first Apple-approved training centre in Africa which means in our deep rural community of KwaNyuswa, we'll have Apple training centre. Two kids who were part of our programme have qualified as the first Swift App developers’ trainers and they will be running the centre for us,” she said.
Sbusisiwe said most of the kids come from disadvantaged families and they receive a meal every day at the academy.
