In South Africa, June is commemorated and honored as Youth Month. South Africans honor the Youth of 1976 during Youth Month by either creating youth campaigns to empower and inspire the present generation of South African youth or by raising awareness of the contributions and effects of the Youth of 1976 on South Africa’s liberation.
The Young Employment Accord, which was signed by business, labor, and government in April 2013, stressed how crucial it is to give youth employment priority. The agreement that was reached pushed the government to commit to hiring interns for 5% of the positions in all government agencies and parastatals. However, the aforementioned will not increase the graduate retention rate, especially not within the maritime sector.
Exposing methods that one might support themselves in the maritime business is essential, especially considering the multiple interdisciplinary career options and credentials needed there. Under the direction of the Industry Promotion Unit, the EThekwini Maritime Cluster (EMC) created a #YouthInMaritime campaign for its social media channels in the month of June 2022. The goal of EMC’s Industry Promotion Unit is to create media campaigns that will make it easier for people to share knowledge and information through cooperative activities. As per the purpose of the Industry Promotion Unit, the #YouthInMaritime campaign aims to expose the different careers within the maritime sector whilst creating awareness of the various ways that unemployment can be addressed using the maritime sector.
By highlighting maritime professionals and their paths to their current positions within the maritime industry, the youth campaign was carried out. The young marine professionals’ profiles were often posted on EMC’s social media channels during the month of June.
The profiles of these young maritime professionals represented a variety of occupations, including marketing and customer service positions in the maritime sector, marine surveyor positions, sailing and diving professionals, logistics and freight forwarding specialists, boat builders and boilermakers, and maritime educators.
Amongst the profiled individuals was Thokozani Gumede, who is the First Female diver to work for an Oil and Gas company in KwaZulu Natal as well as Lindani Nthsangase who is the First South African to graduate with an academic degree at Shanghai Maritime University. Not only were these two individuals popular amongst EMC’s social media followers in the month of June, but they also served as a reminder to the Youth of South Africa to be resilient and to not be afraid to initiate and continue to penetrate in the different sub-markets of the Maritime sector.
One of the outcomes of the #YouthInMaritime campaign was that it brought hope to the young people that follow EMC on its social media platforms. The constant resharing and engagement of the EMC social media platforms were refreshing and a beautiful sight to see.