Clement Manyathela returns to Vaalbank to open pathways for rural learners

For Clement Manyathela, returning to Hlalakahle High School in Vaalbank is about more than remembering where his journey began. Seventeen years after leaving the school, the broadcaster has returned to a community where he says many of the challenges he faced as a young person continue to affect learners today.

The Clement Manyathela Foundation was launched at Primedia Place in Sandton on Wednesday, with Hlalakahle High as its first school. It will provide psychosocial support, career guidance and mentorship.

The initiative is built around Manyathela's belief that young people should receive support before they reach a crisis point and that rural learners should have access to the same information, networks and opportunities available to young people in better-resourced communities.

Manyathela said his childhood shaped the foundation's focus. Growing up in Vaalbank, he did not have a clear understanding of the different careers available to him or the pathways into higher education. When asked what he wanted to become, he recalled giving the familiar answers of doctor or lawyer because those were professions associated with money and status.

“I threw out random answers like doctor or lawyer simply because people associated them with money or status,” he said.

Manyathela said some of the young people he grew up with were academically stronger than him but had never pursued higher education because they had not known about available opportunities or financial assistance.

“When I go home, I feel a sense of guilt because peers who were smarter than me didn't pursue higher education, simply because no one told them financial aid existed,” he said.

In a video presented at the launch, grade 11 learner Dineo spoke about her ambition to become a gynaecologist, while another learner said they wanted to study actuarial science because actuaries were in demand and they believed the profession would improve their chances of finding employment.

Their ambitions show that rural learners are thinking seriously about their futures but the school says many do not have enough exposure to understand the range of careers available or what is required to enter them.

Life orientation teacher Ms Makhono said learners often knew only the professions they had heard about since primary school. She called for dedicated career days and professional career counsellors who could introduce learners to different sectors and explain the qualifications and pathways involved.

Manyathela's concern, however, extends beyond whether learners know what they want to become.

He said career decisions could not be separated from the circumstances young people experienced outside the classroom.

Hlalakahle principal TR Phaswana said many parents left Vaalbank to work in Pretoria or Johannesburg and returned only on weekends or at the end of the month, leaving some learners with significant responsibilities at home.