As another Youth Month draws to a close, we’d do well to shine a spotlight on South Africa’s next economic titans and what we can do to help them succeed.
While the country faces no shortage of challenges, from sluggish growth to higher-than-normal youth unemployment, another story has been unfolding, often drowned out by headlines of despair. A story of young South Africans who are not waiting for perfect conditions to build a bright and promising future. They’re building it anyway and showing the rest of us what’s possible.
Too often, when thinking of business icons, we default to nostalgia and the likes of Richard Maponya, Adrian Gore and Pam Golding, but what if we shifted that focus to today’s pioneers who are redefining the future? We don’t need to look too far. Like our national sporting teams that defy global expectations, our youth, especially those in the business sector, are quietly making the world sit up and take notice.
Take Christiaan Coetzee, for example. His company, The Audit Toolbar, is disrupting the audit profession using automation and AI, with clients in more than 20 countries. His achievements include being the overall winner of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants Top 35 under-35 award. For him, innovation is about relevance and opportunity opening doors for a new generation to solve problems the previous one never tackled.
“There’s a great opportunity for young people to bring fresh perspectives that the old guard simply doesn’t have the head space for,” he told me. He sees so many opportunities for young people to provide new solutions.
Young entrepreneurs are also tapping into local pride and cultural heritage to build businesses with real impact. One standout example is Daneel Steinmann’s heritage-inspired sportswear, Old School, which has grown into a national phenomenon and now employs more than 100 South Africans. As Steinmann puts it: “The best talent pool is right under our noses. South Africa has some of the best workers in the world.”
His advice to aspiring founders is equally direct: “Start here first; local roots are your biggest competitive edge.” Cultural relevance can be an economic driver, and in a country where many believe opportunity lies elsewhere, that’s a message worth repeating.
The list doesn’t stop there. Theo Baloyi, for example, left a corporate job abroad to establish a thriving sneaker brand Bathu Group; Mathebe Ngwenya founded Beauty on TApp and is changing how South Africans shop using e-commerce. These young entrepreneurs are tackling old problems with fresh energy, they are building belief as much as they are building businesses, and the best thing about belief is that it is contagious.
Our national strategy must go beyond Youth Month hashtags and empty pledges. It must become intentional
These founders may be young, but they’re solving social problems, reducing unemployment and proving that purpose and progress can coexist. More than that, they’re showing that a South African success story need not start in the boardrooms and glass towers of Sandton but can grow in small towns and townships, the often-overlooked backbones of our economy.
As I reflect on the many conversations I’ve had with young founders through the SAICABiz Impact Podcast, one thread stands out. This generation leads with purpose. They are values-driven, impact-minded and globally informed — and they aren’t waiting for permission.
This is why our national strategy must go beyond Youth Month hashtags and empty pledges. It must become intentional. The government and private sector alike need to double down on supporting youth-led innovation in agriculture, tech, the creative economy and tourism. These are industries with massive potential and a natural appeal to younger generations. Access to finance, mentorship and market entry must become real, not theoretical.
Our youth are a solution already in motion. As Robert Kennedy reminded us in his 1966 speech at the University of Cape Town: “I am impressed not by the diversity but by the closeness of young people’s goals, their desires, and their hope for the future.”
What young South Africans need is an enabling environment that doesn’t smother their ambition under red tape or relegate their ideas to pilot projects that never scale. Instead of watching from the sidelines, we need to build alongside them while we let them lead.
• Mtwentwe AGA (SA) is MD of Vantage Advisory and host of the SAICABiz Impact Podcast
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