ther socio-economic challenges to contend with, South Africans face a myriad of stressful factors every day, all of which take a toll on its people’s mental health.
Statista figures for 2022 revealed that 2.7% of South Africa’s unemployed (ranging from those without matric to those at tertiary level) are people with a university degree, and 6.9% with other tertiary qualifications.
Added to this, suicide rates among South African youth in particular are soaring – according to SADAG, the fastest growing age for suicide prevalence is young people under 35, specifically female suicides, which peak between 15 and 19 years.
How jobs can boost mental health
“There is a kind of mental healthcare benefit that comes with someone being employed in a meaningful way,” says Blake Dyason, former co-founder of good deeds digital rewards platform, Brownie Points. “Through creating meaningful jobs and giving people the opportunity to learn new skills, we have the ability to inspire hundreds of people to become micro entrepreneurs in their own communities and spaces and make a meaningful difference while doing it.”
Dyason believes that offering young people gainful employment in the NPO and NGO space, provides a viable solution to this challenge. “If we all start building businesses that address the challenges, we as a country face, that can potentially help us earn an income and contribute positively, I feel like we’ll make a huge difference to the economy, to our mental and physical health, and to the health of the planet too,” he says.
Brownie Points was recently selected as one of 28 organisations to pilot the Social Employment Fund funded by the Presidential Employment Stimulus. Brownie Points launched its programme – The Good Economy – together with 9 non-profit partners to meaningfully employ 1,175 people, of which over 50% are under the age of 35. The initiative works to place unemployed people from previously disadvantaged communities in permanent positions within organisations and companies across South Africa in a mutually beneficial setup.
Leticia Ngcezu is one of the beneficiaries of this initiative who has been funded to work at Rays of Hope as a social worker working with the Alexandra Township community. Thanks to Brownie Points, she is able to get paid for the meaningful and much-needed contributions she makes through Rays of Hope’s community support programmes.
“What I love about the social work profession is that it helps people to realise their strengths and use it to change their future, because the individual has the capacity to change their life, but it needs to be facilitated,” she says. “By receiving a stipend for my services, I can provide for my loved ones financially and there is less stress in my household about where the next meal will come from.”
Kholofelo Chauke was also offered a contract to work at Rays of Hope, where she works as a social worker. “Being part of this programme has allowed me to be independent. I’m able to support my family financially and I’m supported emotionally and spiritually by the team at Rays of Hope,” she says.
For South African youth, the majority of which is doing its best to overcome the cycles of generational poverty that stand in their way, finding employment is a crucial step in not only improving their standard of living, but also in safeguarding mental health and preventing the scourge of suicide instances among the youth. While this is beneficial for the individual, it also has a positive impact on the country from an economic and social perspective, allowing people to engage in work and careers that are fulfilling and meaningful.