Every June, Youth Month asks South Africans to look at what young people are building, not just what they might one day become. Nedbank’s Youth Employment Service (YES) programme has given hundreds of young South Africans their first foothold in the working world, regardless of their field of study or where they grew up.
Since 2019, Nedbank has completed six YES intakes, creating more than 19 000 one-year work opportunities for young people across the country. The majority of participants have been women (63%), from grant-recipient households (85%), and supporting dependents (87%). Between 2019 and 2025, Nedbank invested approximately R1 billion in the YES programme, demonstrating our commitment to creating opportunities that have a lasting impact on the lives of young South Africans.
We share a collection of YES Youth success stories, taken together, which show how far that first step can carry someone, into operations management, entrepreneurship, marketing leadership, data analysis, development finance, debt recoveries, and beyond.
These are the stories of some of the YES Youth excelling at the bank.
From Hammanskraal to Global Tech Leader:
When Thabo Lekgwathi joined Nedbank through the YES programme in 2022, he wasn’t looking for a career in technology — he was looking for an opportunity.
Like many young South Africans entering the job market, Thabo applied for anything that could open a door. He originally interviewed for a call centre position, but a chance viral moment changed the trajectory of his career and led him into Nedbank Group Technology. Today, he serves as a Microsoft Power Platform Specialist, managing one of the bank’s most important automation and citizen development platforms.
“The YES programme was something out of the ordinary,” says Thabo. “What made it special was that it didn’t ask for experience from young people — it gave experience.”
What began as a one-year opportunity quickly evolved into a long-term career.
That challenge sparked a passion that would define his professional journey. Today, Thabo oversees governance, compliance, security, enablement and adoption of the Microsoft Power Platform at Nedbank. His rapid growth has been remarkable. One of his proudest achievements was implementing Microsoft’s Power Platform Centre of Excellence Starter Kit in 2023.
His contributions were recently recognised with the prestigious Nedbank Group Technology Top Achiever Award. Having grown up in the dusty streets of Hammanskraal, he once dreamed of simply travelling across South Africa. Today, his work has taken him around the world, including trips to the United States and upcoming visits to Malaysia, Singapore and Denmark.
His advice to young people is simple: “Never stop looking. A job is a job. Sometimes opportunities transform into careers. Mine did. Once you get an opportunity, become an asset they can’t afford to lose.”
Lawrence Mphepo — from promotional jobs to Operations Manager
Lawrence Mphepo’s path to a corporate career started with a financial setback. While studying towards a BCom in Business and Marketing, money ran short, and he took on promotional jobs to get by, until a partner’s introduction to Nedbank’s YES programme, hosted by Tradeway Promotions, changed his trajectory. The programme taught him how to engage with diverse people and gave him a sense of pride and belonging, while helping him support his family financially. From there, Mphepo moved into brand activation as a promoter supervisor, then into operations, within eight months of signing a permanent contract, he was promoted to Operations Manager, a role he still holds. Today he manages client relationships, ensures sites meet regulatory standards, and helps expand recruitment drives aimed at giving other young people with no experience their first foothold, much as YES once gave him.
Nyiko Nkuna — building a business around health, wellness and waste
Nyiko Nkuna built two careers at once, in sports health and wellness and in environmental health and safety, after completing his studies. As a YES alumnus sponsored by Nedbank and hosted by ORT SA, he went on to serve as a youth ambassador, help shape the careers of his peers, and earn recognition as one of South Africa’s most innovative young people and one of the continent’s Bright Young Minds. That momentum carried into The Cargo Waste Trolley, his business tackling environmental and sports health and wellness issues both online and on the ground. The venture gives young people practical ways to earn an income, learn financial management, and build digital and real-world skills for their communities, work Nkuna sees as building a legacy for the next generation, much as YES did for him.
Warren Mkhize — from final-year jitters to mushroom entrepreneur
Warren Mkhize was in his final year at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2018, anxious about finding work, when Nedbank’s YES programme, paired with an entrepreneurship training course, gave him both a job and a push. YES helped him develop interpersonal skills, navigate workplace personalities, and grow out of his shell. That confidence led him to start Mycopro, a business cultivating, producing, and selling oyster mushrooms, using R5,800 from his YES salary plus R2,000 for a second-hand computer. Unable to access loans as a self-funded entrepreneur, Mkhize learned to target high-end markets and diversify, selling growing materials, dried mushrooms, and animal feed made from offcuts. Mycopro now supplies retailers including Quarry and Parklane Super Spar, and trains university teams in mushroom farming.
Wendy Mhlongo — from shy teacher’s assistant to Marketing Supervisor
Before YES, Wendy Mhlongo worked as a teacher’s assistant and battled shyness and self-doubt. Nedbank’s YES programme placed her at Love Howick as a Marketing Intern, where her dedication saw her become one of just three participants absorbed into a permanent role as Entry-Level Marketing Coordinator. From there she took on email campaigns, events, and analytics, earned a promotion to Marketing Specialist focused on digital and content marketing, and was recently appointed Marketing Supervisor, overseeing her department’s entire marketing function. Along the way she completed a certificate in Fundamental Marketing. Mhlongo’s journey, from a shy teacher’s assistant to a confident marketing leader, is a clear marker of what structured opportunity and mentorship can unlock.
Sibusiso Radebe — turning a township start into a growing brand
When the job market shut down during COVID, Sibusiso Radebe, fresh out of an IT qualification, volunteered at Duduza Primary School, helping with health protocols, admin, and classroom technology. That groundwork led to a Nedbank-funded YES placement at the school as an IT administrator and PYEI supervisor, where he completed work-readiness training and certifications through the NYDA, Black Umbrellas, and Excel Grow. Radebe now works as a data analyst at MNS Attorneys, while chairing Ikusasa Lethu Youth Development, an initiative he’s led since 2014, raising funds for school uniforms and running community clean-ups. He also launched PresiDA, a branding and digital marketing company helping township businesses get seen and founded Healing Lives NPO for orphaned and vulnerable children. At 27, his outlook holds: YES taught him resilience and showed him that small beginnings can grow into something transformative.
Samkele Xaba — from scholarship recipient to development leader
More than a decade ago, Samkele Xaba joined the Imbeleko, Dr Seni Myeni Foundation as a boarding school scholarship beneficiary. Today, at 25, she leads its development function. After matriculating in 2017 and completing a BCom in Finance and Economics at UKZN despite COVID disruptions, she returned to Imbeleko through Nedbank’s YES programme, gaining her first formal workplace experience in administration, fundraising, and communication, and the financial independence to register for an Honours in Finance, completed in 2023. She’s now pursuing an MPhil in Development Finance at Stellenbosch University and was selected for the Traversing Liminality Fellowship founded by Dr Lulu Gwagwa. At Imbeleko, Xaba oversees fundraising, stakeholder engagement, proposal writing, and financial planning, leading a team of interns and volunteers. As she puts it, YES was her bridge into professional life, giving her the confidence to lead and, now, to open doors for others.
Mathapelo Pheko — from unpaid NPO work to managing recoveries
Mathapelo Pheko’s first taste of work was unpaid, supporting victims of crime and abuse at a small non-profit. Nedbank’s YES programme gave her something new: a payslip, colleagues, and a professional environment. She started in human resources administration before moving into recoveries. Now 27, she manages four external debt collectors, tracks student loans and overdrafts, and compiles reports for senior management, work she sees as meaningful because recoveries done right help people settle debts fairly. Performance reviews highlight her teamwork and leadership, and she now mentors new hires through the same uncertainty she once felt. Pheko is currently completing an Honours in Industrial Sociology, drawn to the human side of workplace culture, while taking on transcription work on the side. For her, YES gave the first step; the rest has been about proving, mostly to herself, that she can keep climbing.
Rito Tshabalala — from graduate placement to leadership track
Like the others, Rito Tshabalala entered the world of work through Nedbank’s YES programme, drawn by a model that didn’t require prior experience but instead developed people from the ground up. “I saw it as a stepping stone that would allow me to climb the ranks in my career,” Tshabalala recalls. The placement led to a permanent role, with mentorship sharpening both technical skills and confidence; colleagues noted real growth in adaptability and public speaking. Today, Tshabalala works as a Collections Consultant, helping clients in default find repayment solutions that protect their homes, and recently spent three months as a Team Leader, managing a team and shaping daily strategy. Growing up without exposure to the corporate side of banking, Tshabalala once assumed the role meant handling cash in a branch; instead, it opened a window into Nedbank’s full range of financial products. With mentors Zodwa Ngcamu and Charmain Moola behind the encouragement, Tshabalala was named a PPB Achiever 2025 and, the year before, a Young Talent Top Achiever 2024.
The Butterfly Effect: A Journey of Transformation and Resilience
Bashley Mashego’s journey from the outskirts of Johannesburg in Orange Farm to a pivotal role at Nedbank encapsulates a remarkable tale of perseverance and transformation. Raised by a single mother and occasionally visited by a father who only appeared annually, Bash faced numerous challenges from an early age, including struggles with self-image and familial stability. His resilience was further tested through personal losses and academic setbacks, which culminated in a severe bout of depression.
However, Bash’s life trajectory changed significantly in 2019 when she joined Nedbank’s Group Market Research team through the Youth Employment Service (YES) program. This opportunity was not just a job; it was a gateway to a burgeoning career and personal growth.
Bash now serves as a Market Research Administrator, a role that has allowed her to delve deep into consumer and market insights. Her interest in this field is expanding daily, fuelled by her ongoing studies towards a Diploma in Media Practices specialising in Digital Marketing.
Bash’s contributions to Nedbank have not gone unnoticed; her dedication and impact were recently recognised with a Nedbank Achievers award. Her journey highlights the importance of internship programs like YES in providing young South Africans with the tools and platforms needed to succeed.
One programme, eight different starting points
A campus in KwaZulu-Natal, a township NPO, a primary school IT desk, a marketing internship, a collections floor, eight different starting points, and eight different destinations. But the thread connecting Mphepo, Nkuna, Mkhize, Mhlongo, Radebe, Xaba, Pheko, Tshabalala and Mashego is the same: a programme that asked not for experience, but for potential, and young people who showed up to meet it. As Tshabalala puts it, young people are not only the leaders of tomorrow, but active contributors today, “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” This Youth Month, that’s the blueprint: for these eight, and for the young people coming up behind them.
These are some of the shining stars from Nedbank’s partnership with the Youth Employment Service (YES) programme which has become a strategic lever in addressing youth unemployment, promoting social stability, and developing future talent pipelines.
