Using digital learning tools to empower the youth
JOHANNESBURG - Honouring the legacy of the 1976 youth means equipping today's young people with the tools they need to succeed in a digital future.
The iSchoolAfrica Education Trust is helping young people gain skills suited for the Fourth Industrial Revolution through access to technology and training.
According to iSchoolAfrica's Zulaikha Goolam, there has been a noticeable shift in empowerment, as the youth now use digital tools to democratise and transform education.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Citizen
07-08-2025
- The Citizen
iStore turns 20 as mobile phone brands compete for SA share
Competition has not deterred iStore, the authorised reseller of Apple products in South Africa. As South Africa continues to see an influx of low-cost and affordable smartphone brands, Apple products are maintaining market share in a saturated environment. According to the latest survey data from market research and network intelligence firm Analytico, Samsung currently has the biggest piece of the pie in the country, with Apple in second place, while Huawei, Xiaomi and Honor are fighting for third place, with Huawei holding on to its position at 7%. Competition However, the competition has not deterred iStore, which is the authorised reseller of Apple products in the country, as it celebrated its 20th anniversary on Wednesday. Speaking to The Citizen in Sandton on Wednesday, iStore South Africa's Chief Commercial Officer, Linda van der Nest, said the number of Apple customers has grown in the country. 'As our business has grown, we service now, through our doors, over eight million customers, and that's just the scope of it. So, we've certainly seen over the past 20 years massive growth in Apple. 'Maybe those brands have grown, I can't comment on those growth rates, but we've certainly seen at iStore Apple grow massively. Over the years, we've done very much from our side to make iPhones specifically more affordable. We are very passionate about bringing Apple and iPhones to more South Africans,' van der Nest said. ALSO READ: Apple iPhone 16e lands in SA, but should you get one? Education The iStore has more than 40 retail locations in South Africa, where they meet Apple fans both in-store and online. Through SMB and Education initiatives, and partnerships with programmes like iSchoolAfrica, iStore said it also empowers communities, supports local talent, and equips educators and students for the future. Trump tariffs With Apple expected to launch their new iPhone, possibly iPhone 17, later this year, Van der Nest said she is not aware of any price hikes in light of US President Donald Trump's tariffs. 'I can't give any insight into Apple's supply chain and how those goods flow before they hit our country. From our perspective, we purchase our product locally, from local distributors.' Van de Nest said beyond its retail footprint, iStore has built careers, fostered innovation, and supported entrepreneurs with tools to thrive. ALSO READ: TikTok removes over 1.1 million videos for violating guidelines
IOL News
29-07-2025
- IOL News
South Africa is not ready for the coming white-collar AI bloodbath
South Africa is not ready for the coming white-collar AI bloodbath, says the author. Image: AI LAB A major disruption is unfolding in global white-collar employment. According to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, up to 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs could vanish in the next five years due to advances in artificial intelligence. As detailed in Axios' article 'Behind the Curtain: A White-Collar Bloodbath', this isn't science fiction; it's a forecast from one of the leading minds in the AI field. South Africa, already battling youth unemployment and graduate underemployment, is ill-prepared for this transformation. According to StatsSA, South Africa's youth unemployment rate stood at 45.5% in quarter one 2024, and even university graduates struggle to find meaningful, skills-aligned work. Our economy continues to rely heavily on labour-intensive sectors like mining and retail while offering limited pathways into knowledge work. Now, with AI rapidly mastering entry-level professional tasks, such as document drafting, basic analysis, and customer interaction, the last buffer between graduates and long-term exclusion may collapse. This shift is not about robots in factories; it is about machines replacing tasks traditionally assigned to junior professionals. Legal clerks, marketing interns, junior auditors, and admin graduates' roles, meant to build workplace experience, are increasingly handled by AI systems that are faster, cheaper, and tireless. Employers may not downsize immediately, but they are already freezing hiring or redesigning roles to be 'AI-first.' Without access to these stepping-stone roles, South Africa's already marginalised youth may find themselves locked out of the formal economy altogether. The government, academia, and business sectors are largely unresponsive to this looming crisis. Government conversations remain stuck in Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) rhetoric, disconnected from the speed and nature of current technological shifts. We are no longer preparing for change; we are reacting too late to one that is already here. To date, responses have been piecemeal. The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies has produced documents like the National Data and Cloud Policy and launched an AI Institute with the CSIR and UJ. However, these efforts lack a coordinated AI-readiness strategy that connects automation with job protection, ethical deployment, and skills development. The 2020 Presidential Commission on the 4IR laid out strong recommendations, but implementation has stalled. Meanwhile, digital upskilling initiatives funded through the National Skills Fund or SETAs focus mostly on basic IT literacy and coding, not AI fluency or workplace adaptation. Universities and TVET colleges continue to produce graduates for roles vulnerable to automation. While some institutions offer data science or entrepreneurship programmes, the majority of curricula remain outdated. Employers, for their part, are adopting AI in operations, particularly in banking, consulting, and customer service, but without public commitments to ethical deployment, job transition planning, or internship preservation. Public discourse is also behind. Civil society and researchers have begun tackling data ethics and algorithmic bias, but little attention is paid to AI's role in reshaping the graduate labour market. As a result, policy and pedagogy remain misaligned with the rapid automation of professional tasks. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ South Africa urgently needs a coordinated national strategy for AI integration and labour resilience. This strategy must include: Regulation of AI deployment in sectors like finance, education, and HR. An AI usage tax or levy to fund reskilling, digital public employment schemes, or universal basic income pilots. Labour market forecasting that tracks which roles are most vulnerable and identifies growth sectors suited to human skills. The education sector must act now. From basic education through to postgraduate study, curricula must equip students with data literacy, AI ethics, systems thinking, and interdisciplinary problem-solving. All disciplines, not just STEM, must be AI-aware. Pedagogies must evolve from rote learning to adaptive, applied learning. Employers must also take responsibility. Ethical AI adoption should include commitments to preserving pathways for young professionals, supporting employee reskilling, and maintaining entry-level learning opportunities. Without these, automation will deepen inequality and economic exclusion. We must also be bolder in where we look for future jobs. Care work, social entrepreneurship, the digital creative economy, rural innovation, and climate adaptation all require skills that AI cannot easily replicate, such as human judgement, emotional nuance, and cultural intelligence. If supported with funding and training, these sectors could provide both dignity and economic inclusion. While structural change is vital, individuals, especially tertiary students, must act proactively. First, they must become AI literate, understanding how platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and are transforming work. Many free or low-cost online courses are available. Second, students must strengthen human-centred skills such as ethical reasoning, creativity, communication, and teamwork, areas where machines still struggle. They should build real-world experience through volunteering, student leadership, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Third, graduates must build adaptable portfolios, showcasing skills through blogs, digital artefacts, or small projects. A certificate alone will no longer open doors. Finally, students should demand more from their institutions, AI-informed teaching, curriculum updates, and exposure to emerging tools and thinking. This moment demands courage and clarity. AI is not on the horizon; it is in the room. Without urgent, collaborative action across government, higher education, and business, South Africa risks cementing a two-tier society: those who build and manage the machines, and those left behind. If we act wisely, we can still shape a future where human talent and machine capability work together to create inclusive, ethical prosperity. Dr Zamandlovu Sizile Makola is a senior lecturer in the College of Economic and Management Sciences (CEMS) at Unisa. *** The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Independent Media or IOL. BUSINESS REPORT
Daily Maverick
11-07-2025
- Daily Maverick
Owning your data: AI and African food systems
From fire to fossil fuels to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, humans have always been transforming society, says Gareth Haysom, a senior researcher at the African Centre for Cities. From 7 July 2025 until 20 July, the annual Food Indaba has as this year's theme the potential impacts and opportunities of artificial intelligence (AI) on African food systems. On 9 July, an o nline Conference on AI, Knowledge & African Food Systems took place, featuring host Khanya Mncwabe, the CEO and co-founder of Matawi. Alison Pulker, a research assistant at the African Centre for Cities, Dr Anesu Makina, Postdoctoral Researcher at the African Centre for Cities, and Gareth Haysom, senior researcher at the African Centre for Cities, as well as Associate Professor in food security from the University of Namibia, Ndeyapo Nickanor, were panellists in the discussion. Pulker described the food system as everything from growing food to waste. She went on to define an urban system as things like transport into urban areas, electricity needed to store food, housing and social infrastructure — how food is distributed to people within a city. The food environment is how people can choose food; therefore power and policy come into play, with zoning laws for where food can be sold being an example used by Pulker. Data from African cities Haysom introduced an AfriFOODlinks project, which looks at the city food systems in hub cities in countries like Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Uganda, Kenya and South Africa. Those cities then work with 10 more cities, and five European cities. They study what food systems in Africa need, feeding that information back to the public, and working with city officials. A report found that the world had predominantly transitioned to an urban environment by 2007, something Haysom found striking. Of the 2.2 billion food-insecure people, 1.7 billion live in urban and peri-urban areas. 'There's an absence of data from African urban areas,' said Nickanor on the politics of data. She noted that it was important to look at bias, transparency, academic integrity and intellectual property when thinking about AI. African ethics like ubuntu could be embodied when deploying AI, mused Makina, specifically concepts like human dignity and equitability. There should be discussions around monitoring, and systems needed to be tested locally, because there was diversity between countries and linguistic diversity in Africa. Big AI systems did not include marginalised people, and already showed a gender bias, Makina pointed out. Owning your data — and your life Haysom spoke of the evolution of society; first we transformed our lives with materials, then with energy, and now with information. From fire to fossil fuels to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. During industrialisation, the people who became known as the luddites destroyed machines because they feared they would replace labour. Haysom questioned if we should resist in a similar way, or embrace AI. He added that governance had to catch up, with rules and regulations, to technological development. He also said it would be important to ensure that technology worked in our interest, and did not follow the extractive pattern that had befallen Africa before. Extractivism generally refers to the raw minerals and material that are minimally processed before being shipped out to other countries. Pulker said that during her research they ran into an ethical consideration: how to protect data taken from people, and, during storage of that data, how to create long-term anonymity. Mncwane queried Makina on how to decolonise these systems. 'When we exclude people, the information is not good. Scholars should operate on principles like fairness… and create systems with AI, asking questions rooted in our own realities,' said Makina. She cited examples of chatbots for farmers that communicate in their own languages, and a basic phone that could detect pests, but remain low-tech for accessibility. 'At the policy level, the government should step up with infrastructure first, because people can't participate,' said Makina. Haysom said we needed to understand how we brought bias to systems; if we thought someone buying amagwinya meant that people were lazy, or if we thought that people were incredible strategic decision-makers, then we were asking AI questions that reflected this bias. AI and extractivism in Africa Daily Maverick asked the panel how we could ensure that AI worked in our collective interest, and did not turn into an extractive system in Africa. 'I think it sits on what we value and devalue. Where we assign value,' said Haysom. 'I think we need to work hard to amplify the value that we have; the value of our system is being eroded for a variety of reasons. 'I also want to be pragmatic and acknowledge that people are making decisions that might seem to be undervaluing our food system, but they are making decisions because other systems are not supporting them,' he said. 'How we as a society demand something fundamentally different in terms of governance; that governance and food systems, the laws, link to what is in the constitutions of our different countries, link to the Bill of Rights, link to economic and social justice, how do we embed AI data in the thinking of all of those processes so we can demand very different governance?' He questioned how we challenge the disposable nature of the food system, start to see our bodies as being just as polluted as our atmosphere, and how we could start valorising local and indigenous foods in different ways — the ways that were thrown out by colonialism because they did not suit the economic model. Makina said there was a need for a strong governance framework, and beyond the state with organisations and individuals. 'I know that policy frameworks are important, we're right at the beginning of developing policy frameworks around AI systems, but we also need strong monitoring frameworks by diverse people — social justice practitioners and academics,' said Makina. 'We need to ask the questions 'what is our interest?' and 'what is our interest in the food system?'. AfriFOODlinks is a project that has managed to show that Africa's food systems are not homogenous, in the same way that Africa is not homogenous,' said Pulker. 'Africa's diverse urban food systems are maybe something that we need to find out a bit more about before imposing what we think we're protecting,' said Pulker. DM
