Imparting skills to Diepsloot’s youth

Babuyile is a non-profit organisation which was started in 2005 to alleviate poverty and uplift disadvantaged communities in South Africa. Founder of the organisation, Alef Meulenberg realised that one of the main issues affecting disadvantaged communities is youth unemployment.

With the help of Salman Khan of the Morningside Rotary Club, Meulenberg came up with the idea of a skills development centre to increase employment opportunities for the Diepsloot youth, this being people from the ages of 18 to 45.

The skills development centre received funding from Experion and the Morningside Rotary Club, as well as support from the Rivers Foundation and the South African National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence (Sanca) which it shares premises with.

The skills development centre will offer courses in career readiness, fashion design, information technology and enterprise development. The courses are fully accredited, and Meulenberg said that the organisation would follow course graduates through their careers to make sure they were contributing to society.

Khan said that the skills development centre would also function as an employment centre where youth would be assisted in finding suitable jobs.

Nuska Zwane of the Rivers Foundation explained that her journey with Diepsloot youth started in 2002 when she met young men from Diepsloot who were incarcerated at Leeuwkop Prison. She said, “I asked myself ‘what makes young boys like this end up in prison?’.

“They committed petty crimes because of poverty but they kept repeating these crimes – this centre is about stopping the repetition of those crimes. Tomorrow is going to be a better day.”

“With the centre we are addressing the root of the problem in order to solve the problem,” Meulenberg said.

Babuyile is looking for future partners to come on board to help the centre and the youth who will utilise it to reach their potential.

Details: contactus@babuyile.com; 011 465 9556.