By: Lwazi Nongauza

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.”

This quote by Dr Martin Luther King Jnr best describes the motivation behind the work that Kgothatso Mokgophi does. This 2017 Activator, from Fetakgomo-Tubatse Village in Limpopo, hopes to see a South African youth that is developed and well informed about their status quo.

Mokgophi is a charitable young man who is a cloud architect by profession, he is the founder of Spinder Projects and cofounder of non-profit organisation, Fetakgomo Youth Development Structure (FYDS). The Fetakgomo Youth Development Structure is a non-profit organization which was established by the youth of Sekhukhune District in the Fetakgomo Local Municipality (Now Fetakgomo-Greater Tubatse Local Municipality) in the year 2013. The name of the organisation has been shortened to FYDS.

“It was formed with the purpose of developing the young people in the district to be well-informed about status quo, so that they may contribute immensely to the growth of a better society”, says Mokgopi. “The name ‘fetakgomo’ was borrowed from the Bapedi proverb, which quoted as ‘feta kgomo, o sware motho, mofeta kgomo ke moriri wa hloga’. Which basically means that we should first prioritize people of all race, before we could consider all sorts of assets we possess, as a result we extended it with Youth Development Structure”, he continues.

The goal of the organisation is to service the youth in general- towards their education as well as their social and economic wellbeing. “It is a known fact that youth are the future of the country. For this reason we have made an oath to ourselves, that we shall forever share knowledge to bridge their life in an attempt to improve their future”, adds Mokgophi.

FYDS operates from the Fetakgomo Library, within Apel Cluster, this is also where it was founded. But today it serves youth with information across the country and beyond, “because all youth deserve equal treatment disregarding the colour, tribe, gender, or place of origin”, he continues.

According to Mokgophi, South Africa has an unemployment rate of approximately 30%, were the youth rests at 58.5%, and continues to rise. It is exactly this statistic that motivated him and his team to take it upon themselves to assist the country- in line with the NDP2030 goals- by sharing opportunities with other young people.

Mokgophi says that he make use of platforms such as The A! Classified Whatsapp Group to receive and share the updated opportunities with his network and FYDS followers. “The A! Classified have made it easier for us to achieve our objectives of active citizenship”, he explains. “It is so compelling to see the happy faces of the new breadwinners (employees), students and business owners because of the information received through our social media platforms”, he explains. “I can only say, I am grateful for the exposure of the ACTIVATE! Changer Driver network”, he continues.

Mokgophi says that other Activators and anyone who might be touched, to assist them with available opportunities is welcomed to join their network. He also says that they welcome donations in the form of data and stationery to help them achieve their goals.

This is indeed a cause that hopes to drive influence on a large scale. As a South African citizen, I am vouching for Mokgophi and his FYDS team to achieve their objectives of curbing unemployment in South Africa. Aluta Continua!