The name of Zodwa Khoza, the late daughter of Orlando Pirates boss Irvin Khoza, is alive and active in the townships of Gauteng, and the Zodwa Khoza Foundation (ZKF) will host a summit on poverty and unemployment alleviation at its Diepkloof, Soweto, premises on October 16.
Irvin Khoza's devotion to his daughters is legendary, and when Zodwa died in 2006, his world fell apart. Grief was written on his face as he buried the apple of his eye at Westpark Cemetery.
Small wonder he set up the ZKF in her memory.
In any case, Zodwa was an achiever in her own right. She was the brand manager for Pirates, and among the pioneering women administrators in soccer. In a private discussion in the early 2000s, Khoza had talked of sending her to one of the prestigious business schools in the UK to sharpen her skills in marketing and running a soccer club, which is now a regular university programme in the UK because of its teams and their leagues that are recognised worldwide.
Her death robbed Khoza of his plans.
Fast-forward to 2025. The ZKF drives development, skills training, and sports in underprivileged communities. At a workshop in 2024 for unemployed youth, sponsored by African Bank, Sonono Khoza - Khoza's other daughter who runs the ZKF - talked about the relevance and necessity of such programmes to deal with the challenges facing the youth.
It was heart-wrenching to see the desperation in the eyes of the youth who attended the workshop. Thankfully, many were determined to change their lives.
At its haven in Diepkloof, the ZKF has thus grown into a vital hub for empowerment through entrepreneurship and skills development.
Its range of life-changing programmes include: Entrepreneurship to encourage many to see themselves as future business owners and leaders; Practical skills, such as culinary arts, sewing, IT literacy, hair and beauty, to stimulate local cottage industries; Job readiness support, including the writing of CVs, preparing for interviews and workplace etiquette; On-the-job training and placements, which include healthcare organisations and Clinix, which owns several hospitals in the townships, and has been a partner; Grassroots sports development and chess, to instil discipline, focus and teamwork; Women and youth empowerment initiatives, which are focused on leadership and mentorship; and, Support programmes for the elderly, which are focused on food security and general wellness.
These are heartening programmes as youth unemployment is at a staggering 5.7-million nationally. The situation is dire for Gauteng as, according to Stats SA, youth unemployment rate for ages 15-24 was 63.9%, and for ages 25-34 was 42.1% in the first quarter of 2022, while the most recent data from the second quarter of 2025 shows the Gauteng youth (15-34 years) unemployment rate was 46.1%.
Poverty is at its worst in townships, according to the Gauteng City Region Observatory (GCRO), a major research outfit. It states that while poverty has fallen at the aggregate level and for African headed households; race and gender remain the overwhelming markers of poverty in the province, with the poverty rate ratio for African to white almost 40:1, and female to male 2:1.
Inequality trends, the GCRO continues, suggest that Gauteng was most unequal in the first five years of democracy. Inequality then moderated slightly, but it has been statistically the same since 2000. However, there is evidence to show that inequality has shifted from between racial groups to within groups, a trend that also applies nationally.
It is thus all systems go for a summit that could increase productivity in all townships, and several speakers have been lined up for the summit.