A social entrepreneurship model for the mentorship of ‘at-risk’ youth in South Africa

Abstract

ABSTRACT The dawn of democracy in South Africa has brought about marked improvement in the lives of youth in the country, especially those that can be considered ‘at-risk’ youth. However, despite this improvement, these youth are still plagued by many challenges which have their root cause in the inadequate satisfaction of specific fundamental human needs. The failure to satisfy these fundamental needs results in ‘at-risk’ youth in impoverished communities not being exposed to adequate developmental mechanisms that enable a successful transition into adulthood. The aim of this social entrepreneurship project was to develop a viable business and funding model for a social venture that would then go on to address some of the unmet fundamental human needs of ‘at-risk’ youth in South Africa. The project is housed within the framework of social entrepreneurship and applies the act of mentorship as the intervention mechanism. In order to achieve its aims this project made use of predominantly secondary research principles; drawing from a vast library of literature on these topics; coupled with qualitative primary research to develop the models in question. The key outcome of the project was the development of an intermediary based business model that will result in the social venture acting as a ‘middle-man’ between a range of corporate entities and beneficiaries, in the South African corporate social responsibility space. The project demonstrated that the field of social entrepreneurship has the potential to address many of the social challenges that South Africa currently faces. The researcher is of the opinion that more work must be done to ensure that the field of social entrepreneurship gains traction in the South African context.