- Learners and graduates were encouraged to reclaim dreams that were threatened by poverty and unemployment.
- Gavaza Mongwe challenged young people to express their ambitions through vision boards and daily affirmations.
- MH Automotive Engineering continues to invest in tutoring and education, helping young people reach university and meaningful careers.
For a child to chase a dream, sometimes the only thing standing in the way is a pair of shoes.
Across South Africa, learners have dropped out of school for nothing more than a lack of shoes and the basic resources that make it possible for a township child to keep going.
For those who make it all the way through university, another wall often waits. Many qualified graduates cannot find work in the fields they trained for and are forced to pivot into whatever opportunities are available.
It is this full journey, from the first day of primary school until the day a young person finally finds employment, that MH Automotive Engineering set out to honour during its Youth Month event.
In partnership with Mrs South Africa semi-finalist Gavaza Mongwe, the company brought together township learners, unemployed graduates, tutors, educators from the secondary and tertiary phases, entrepreneurs and employees to remind young people that poverty should never be allowed to silence their dreams.
The gathering comes as South Africa marks 50 years since the Soweto Uprising of 1976, while continuing to wrestle with an unemployment crisis that falls hardest on the young. Statistics South Africa reported that the national unemployment rate stood at 32.7 percent during the first quarter of 2026. Among people aged 15 to 24, unemployment reached 60.9 percent, while those between 25 and 34 recorded a rate of 40.6 percent.
The writer James Baldwin once observed, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” Fifty years after the youth of 1976 faced their defining moment, the youth of 2026 are confronting challenges of a different kind. Progress has been made, but poverty, inequality and unemployment continue to place enormous pressure on a generation determined to build a better future.
Giving dreams a voice
The keynote speaker for the day was Gavaza Mongwe, whose message was both simple and deeply personal: “A dream you cannot articulate is a dream you cannot pursue.”
Her words resonated with every generation represented in the room. They spoke to the learner whose dream of studying at university feels impossibly distant because of poverty. They also reached unemployed graduates who, through no fault of their own, have had to put aside the careers they originally pursued.
Drawing from her own life, Mongwe spoke openly about the obstacles she has overcome and how returning to her vision board and affirming herself through difficult seasons kept her focused on where she wanted to be rather than where she was.
She did more than share her story. Mongwe sat alongside Grade 12 learners and helped them create their own vision boards before encouraging them to speak daily affirmations over their lives as they prepared for their matric examinations. “Where you start,” she reminded them, “does not decide where you finish,” she told them.
For graduates already navigating the world of work, she shared lessons from her own career journey, reminding young professionals that the careers they truly want are still within reach as long as they take full ownership of them.
Investing in the entire journey
The day’s programme concluded with a tour of the MH Automotive Engineering plant, led by Managing Director Mpho Hlongwane Nkgabutle and her team.
For many learners, it was their first opportunity to step inside an automotive manufacturing facility and see firsthand how components used in vehicles such as the Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok are assembled.
MH Automotive Engineering is also Mongwe’s Silver Sponsor in her Mrs South Africa journey, reflecting a partnership built on developing people as much as supporting her pageant campaign. The event itself was built on a simple conviction that education prepares young people for whatever lies ahead.
Author Oliver DeMille captured that belief when he wrote, “Our generation, and that of our children, will face its share of crises, just like every generation in the past. When those calls come, will you be ready? The answer depends on how we educate the next generation.”
For Mpho Hlongwane Nkgabutle, that philosophy is deeply personal. “Some of the challenges our communities face do not begin after university,” she said.
She recalled how she and members of her team struggled with STEM subjects during their own matric years before discovering that the right tutor and dedicated support could transform a learner’s results from around 50 percent to 90 percent in mathematics.
That experience inspired MH Automotive Engineering to sponsor tutoring programmes that help learners achieve the marks needed to access higher education.
“We wanted this day to trace the entire journey,” she said, “from primary school until one finds employment or decides to be an entrepreneur.”
Hope that reaches beyond the classroom
By the end of the programme, many of the young people who attended said they were leaving with something they had not arrived with: renewed hope.
“I am going home with renewed hope, knowing that where I am today is not a representation of my tomorrow,” one learner said.
Noreen Mutavhatsindi, Chief Executive Officer of Phindulo Tutoring Services, said the impact was already evident. “The learners were so excited to build their vision boards, and you can already hear the new language they are carrying,” she said.
For Mongwe, that change begins with something remarkably simple. “Something as simple as taking the time to say out loud what you desire can begin to change your daily habits and choices,” she said.
“To stand one day as a qualified engineer, a doctor, or a logistics professional begins as a single dream. My dream is to remind women, children and every member of our society not to let life silence their dreams. A dream you can articulate is a dream you can pursue, regardless of where you come from,” concluded Gavaza.
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