Thembeka always loved the ocean. After completing her Master’s degree in Marine Biology, she stepped into the world expecting to build a career in her field. Instead, she ran into a harsh reality: there were simply no jobs. Like many young South Africans, she found herself qualified, motivated, and shut out of a labour market that can’t absorb the talent it produces.
Instead of giving up, she looked for another route. Drawing on her marine biology background, she explored the idea of using fish waste as fertiliser. That spark of an idea showed promise, but running a business demands more than technical expertise. It requires strategy, networks, and a different kind of resilience.
That’s when Thembeka joined the ORT–AEDF New Business Venture Programme. There, she gained the business skills she needed to turn potential into action. She applied for a WWF tender supporting coastal communities with oyster cultivation and won it. That success gave her the confidence to go further, and she soon submitted a tender to the United Nations to help communities develop marine-based solutions. Today, Thembeka is working closely with the UN as she grows a business built not on fantasy, but on purpose, and commitment to her community.
Her story speaks to a wider truth about youth in South Africa. Unemployment is at crisis levels, and the traditional job market is no longer keeping pace. Most young entrepreneurs aren’t chasing Silicon Valley dreams. They’re trying to build something that allows them, and their families, to survive.
This is the real face of entrepreneurship in South Africa: not driven by wealth, but by need. And yet, within that struggle lies opportunity. Entrepreneurship is one of the few pathways that puts agency back in the hands of individuals. To unlock it, we need a mindset shift, from ‘job seeker’ to ‘value creator’.
That shift must start in our schools. For decades, our education system has trained learners to follow instructions and pass exams. But the future demands something different: problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, and adaptability. ORT SA works directly with schools to help learners build these skills. We teach them to innovate, to experiment, and to see challenges as opportunities, not roadblocks. Coding, financial literacy, and digital competency should not be optional extras, they should be embedded in the curriculum.
We also need to rethink the messages we give our youth. Instead of saying go find a job, we should be asking: what problem can you solve? What do people in your community complain about? What’s broken, missing, or in demand? That’s where a business begins.
And it doesn’t require a million-rand loan or a 50-page business plan. Sometimes all you need is R100, one customer, and a community willing to give feedback.
Take Nohlonolo, who started with nothing and built a line of branded handbags using 100% recyclable materials. Today, her products are stocked in shops in Stellenbosch, proof that small ideas can grow into powerful stories of change.
Don’t wait for perfect conditions. Start small. Start imperfect. But start, because the future won’t be built by those waiting for opportunities, it will be built by those creating them.
