Newcastle-born student changes lives
Zwane holds free entrepreneurial classes for Africa House College learners in Johannesburg, with 10 to 15 learners a session.
A Newcastle-born University of Johannesburg (UJ) graduate is changing young lives with his entrepreneurship programme.
Mzwandile Zwane (21), who hails from Madadeni, is currently studying towards a BA honours degree in strategic communication and has started the The Entrepreneurship Management Network Programme for high school learners in Johannesburg.
In an exclusive interview with the Newcastle Advertiser, Zwane revealed how the programme came about.
“For one of my degree modules I was tasked to come up with a project that can create change, which is linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. My project was about mentoring, tutoring, and sharing knowledge and skills about entrepreneurship that I have learnt from programmes such as the Junior Achievement South Africa Mini Enterprise Programme in 2015, Investec Junior Innovators Competition and the Global Enterprise Experience Competition which I was a part of in 2018.”
He explained he wanted learners to understand the work environment before they left school.
“What we do within our entrepreneurship programme is to teach the learners how to handle the work environment after leaving school. It’s hard finding a job after graduating, and some students even drop out before graduating. So why don’t we than educate these young minds about building businesses while they are still at high school level, and still carrying fresh minds? They need to know they can start businesses that are sustainable and manage them themselves.”
Zwane added the main focus targets of the programme are Grade 10 learners.
“There is still time to develop entrepreneurial skills in young leaner’s minds. The project aims to reduce the number of business ventures that fail within the first two years of operation, and to decrease the unemployment rate. The programme also helps students stay away from drugs and to focus in school, especially with regards to business studies and economics.”
Zwane holds free entrepreneurial classes for Africa House College learners in Johannesburg, with 10 to 15 learners a session.
“With this number of learners per session, the goal is to link the students with established entrepreneurs to create a network and to gain resources and mentorship, which is vital to establish successful businesses. I want to raise awareness of how entrepreneurship can boost the performance of learners, but most importantly, to give back to the community in any way possible,” he concluded.
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