​A myriad of businesses in the province have pledged to support the Gauteng Department of Social Development and its elevated programmes in an effort to accelerate service delivery following MEC’s Business Breakfast with Business.
One such organisation that pledged support is Primestars – a Sandton based company that  specialises in facilitating Youth Development Programmes for high school learners from underprivileged communities.

Recently, Primestars partnered with McDonalds South Africa to empower boys from drug-ridden school, East Bank High in Alexandra, with mentorship.

The Department also visited the same school to bring its drug and substance abuseawareness campaign “Ke Moja Fridays” to address the scourge of substance abuse in schools.

Speaking at the MEC’s Breakfast Meeting at Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) on Friday,03 November 2023, Primestars Managing Director, Martin Sweet said as an organisation, they mobilise business to help grow South Africa.

“We raise funds to educate 90 000 learners a year. We teach them Maths and Science and provide career guidance and financial literacy. Our main focus is entrepreneurship, because as you understand, there are no jobs available and we help our people to create their own jobs,” said Sweet.

He added, “Every year, we create at least 500 small businesses and quite frankly, it is a privilege and pleasure to work with Gauteng Government and actually mobilise funding so we can create more of these businesses to help young people sustain themselves.”

“We have helped small businesses all over South Africa. Some have created solar umbrellas which students use the light at night to study. We also have teams who created roof tiles out of cut tyres. We have another team that created bio-coal out of marula nuts,” said Sweet, sharing some of their success stories.

“This shows that our young people are capable of greatness if we inspire them to start their businesses,” he said.

Gauteng MEC for Social Development, Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Mbali Hlophe hosted the breakfast meeting to engage business with the aim to identify possible areas of collaboration for the implementation of Gauteng Government’s elevated priorities in Townships, Informal Settlements and Hostels (TISH).

Hlophe outlined how Public-Private Partnerships can enhance both Department’s elevated priorities, namely: Food Security, Substance Abuse, Skills Development, Environmental Sustainability and Homelessness.

“We had a successful Business Breakfast at JSE following the presentation of the country’s Medium-Term Budget Speech. Despite the tough economic period, rising from the COVID-19 pandemic, energy challenges, and increasing unemployment rates, we shared insights on finding opportunities in crisis.

“We emphasised the need for government and business to collaborate in sparking hope during despair, highlighting Gauteng Province’s efforts to harness its youthful population for socio-economic progress,” said MEC Hlophe.

She added, “We outlined our five key provincial priorities for our joint Departments and urged businesses to partner with us in fostering Gauteng’s growth in these priority areas of poverty alleviation, combating substance abuse, empowering the homeless, promoting environmental sustainability, and revolutionising skills development.”

“We remain grateful for the positive reception and earnest discussions from business representatives at the meeting,” said MEC Hlophe.