SA's youth is the solution to chronic unemployment

In addition, unemployment figures among the country's youth vary from 40% upwards, with government having little success in redressing this.

However, for entrepreneur and motivational speaker Mark Mead there is a simple solution - entrepreneurship.

Mark Mead's message to the youth: "You were born not to fit in, but to stand out."

The KZN-based Mead has been delivering his message to schools and audiences throughout the province, ramming home the importance of self-reliance. Now he's ready to take this drive nationwide.

"My message to today's youth is not to rely on government to make their dreams come true. And they can't sit around waiting for the phone to ring," says Mead.

"They need to be proactive. I want the youth to realise that entitlement starts with hard work, and I want them to know that money is just a tool - not a god."

Adds Mead: "All too often children are told by their parents what they want to be. I am asking parents to listen to their children, to hear what they want to be. There is reason to believe that the entrepreneurial movement I am starting will trigger a whole new wave of South African entrepreneurs."

Fanning the flames of an entrepreneurial spirit in youngsters

Mead himself is a successful entrepreneur and commodity trader, having relocated to South Africa from England in 1984. He now heads a multi-million-rand automotive import and export company that trades in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

Now through his Cradle2Career organisation, Mead is fanning the flames of an entrepreneurial spirit in young people, "teaching the children not to fit in, but to stand out."

Indeed, by opting for self-employment, Mead firmly believes that a great future awaits not just the youth of this country, but the youth of the entire continent.

"Right now there is so much lethargy on all levels of society," says Mead. "I want South Africans to wake up and to be the agents of change. We have forgotten our own power to make things happen."

"I do talks on business motivation to kids in Grades 10 to 12," explains Mead.

When talking at schools, he then asks the learners what they want to become on leaving.

Turning a profit into a brighter future

"I go through all this, and return to the school three weeks later and give four kids who I've selected a certificate, and a 50 cent coin that represents commonsense and that must stay in their pockets at all times. They also each get R500 in cash."

The children then have three weeks to turn that R500 into profit, with 10% of the profits returning to Mead. That 10% is then ploughed back into fostering yet more entrepreneurs.

Importantly, the children also get the opportunity to have Mead as a business partner.

"You know, I have been on this amazing journey of life, and this is an amazing country with an amazing future. It always saddens me to see kids who are leaving," says Mead.

"Right now, just about everything going on in this country is fear-based. And because South Africa, and Africa, has been so good to me, I feel it's time to give back."

As Mead remarked at a recent UKZN conference where he delivered an address to learners: "Boys and girls, the new world is coming, and for years the winds of change have been blowing. You were born not to fit in, but to stand out."

"Governments around the world do not give you jobs," he emphasised to the transfixed children. "They do not give you what you want. You do. You are the future."

For more information, visit www.cradle2career.co.za