A social activist and entrepeneur who walked more than 2 500 kilometers to encourage entrepeneurship among disadvantaged youth says more needs to be done to tackle unemployement.
CEO of the non profit organisation StreetBiz Foundation, Nico De Klerk has arrived in Cape Town after 130 days on the road.
His journey kicked off at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on July 18.
He says it was important that the journey be done at a time when the country was celebrating the 100th birthday of a visionary, former president Nelson Mandela.
“You need to make a decision that you are going to cross boundaries out of comfort zone. Everything I did with the walk was communication with a 100 communities in commemoration of Mandela’s birthday, starting at his statue in Pretoria ending in Cape Town. I was interacting with communities on the plight of unemployed youth.”
StreetBiz wants to use alternative ways to address poverty, unemployment and inequality as the top issues threatening the future and stability of South Africa.
“We are a unique country and its time that we should focus on that – because the spirit out there in the communities. All over, people just want to make it work and everywhere you experience goodwill. People going out of their way, friendliness, kindness so it was the challenge for my mind set to experience the positivity, that is at grassroots level and that should influence the whole of society,” says De Klerk.
