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A VISIT TO LIFE CHOICES - HELPING THE YOUTH TO REACH ITS POTENTIAL
Issued by Christina Teichmann on behalf of the FW de Klerk Foundation on 21/05/2025
On Wednesday, 23 April 2025, a delegation of the FW de Klerk Foundation, comprising of Chairperson Elita de Klerk, Legacy Manager Brenda Steyn and Marketing Manager Abigail Baker, visited the Lansdowne campus of Life Choices, a social enterprise that aims to tackle inequality in the Cape Flats by focusing on youth development and training.
For many years, Life Choices has been one of a few selected non-governmental organisations that receive financial support from the FW de Klerk Foundation in recognition of the excellent work they are doing and the valuable contribution that they make towards fulfilling the constitutional rights of vulnerable groups, such as children and young adults, people with special needs or the homeless. The funds dispersed in 2025 to these organisations were raised through the 2024 Nedbank South African Charity Golf Day in the UK, a yearly event of which President FW de Klerk is a Life Patron.
According to the Stats South Africa 2024 Mid-Year Population Estimates, South Africa’s youth, defined as individuals aged between 15–34 years, make up 33,1% of the total population and roughly 50,2% of South Africa’s working age population. They represent a dynamic generation navigating a rapidly evolving society influenced by the labour market, poverty, crime and access to quality education. While a high percentage of a young population in a society is often referred to as a “youth dividend”, the lived reality for the youth in South Africa looks rather bleak. According to the latest Stats South Africa Quarterly Labour Force Survey, the current youth unemployment rate has risen to 46.1% (Q1:2025), leaving too many young adults in a situation where there is no work, no income and no hope.
Life Choices aims to assist the youth in reaching their potential and developing skills to enter the job market by walking alongside them every step of the way and approaching upskilling in a holistic way. Practical training in the solar yard, CV- writing and interview preparations provide marketable skills, sharpen their professional profiles and build confidence in those who make their way through the Life Choices programmes.
In its Leaders’ Quest programme, operating in high schools across the Cape Flats in Cape Town, Life Choices provides aspirant high school learners with personal development tools and life skills to prepare them for the future.
Moreover, the Health4Life Community Programme offers young people the tools and resources to make informed health decisions, by providing sexual and reproductive health talks and HIV counselling and testing, amongst other initiatives. This is another important intervention as research shows that South African youth continue to engage in high-risk behaviours as early as Grade 8 — including substance abuse, unsafe sex and violence (Khuzwayo et al., 2020).