How Afrika Tikkun is changing young lives from the very beginning

Marc Lubner has spent more than two decades watching Afrika Tikkun grow from an idea into one of South Africa’s most trusted non-profit youth development organisations. But he’ll be the first to tell you that the work is far from done.

“We believe that every young person deserves a chance,” he says. “Not a handout. A chance.”

Starting where it matters most

Afrika Tikkun’s model is built on a principle that sets it apart from most skills development organisations – the belief that you cannot fix unemployment by starting with unemployment. By the time a young person is sitting at home without a job, years of missed opportunity have already passed.

That’s why Afrika Tikkun starts at the very beginning. Their cradle-to-career approach covers early childhood development, after-school support, nutrition, primary healthcare, social support, and skills training – a continuum of care that follows a young person from their earliest years and all the way into the workplace.

It’s not a programme. It’s a relationship that, through its partnership with Naspers Labs, is shaping the next generation of tech specialists.

“We work in communities,” Lubner explains. “We understand what each community needs, and we respond to that specifically. You can’t take a one-size-fits-all approach to people’s lives.”

The moment that changed everything

Like all the best origin stories, Afrika Tikkun’s job-skills arm was born from a single, honest encounter.

Lubner recalls meeting two young men – Johannes and Sibusiso – who had finished their matric but were spending their days drinking beer outside their homes. Not because they lacked ambition. They lacked transport to get to interviews, clothing that met workplace standards, and the practical preparation that transforms a qualified person into an employed one.

“That encounter showed us the gap,” he says. “You can have all the qualifications in the world, but if you can’t get to the interview, if you don’t know what to wear, if you’ve never been inside a corporate environment – the door stays closed.”

Afrika Tikkun responded by building Afrika Tikkun Services, their dedicated work-readiness arm – closing the gap between education and employment one young person at a time.

Where technology comes in

Today, Afrika Tikkun’s tech offering spans basic computer literacy, Microsoft programmes, coding, data analytics, cybersecurity, robotics, and AI awareness. Last year alone, approximately 425 people completed advanced tech programmes through the organisation’s partnership with Naspers Labs.

But Lubner and his team are thinking bigger. The current focus is on delivering foundational digital skills to a much larger cohort – with a target of around 3,000 beneficiaries through shorter, high-impact courses. The goal is to ensure that digital literacy becomes a baseline, not a bonus, for every young person moving through the Afrika Tikkun system.

“Naspers Labs genuinely cares about outcomes,” Lubner says of the partnership. “That alignment of values is what makes collaboration work. You need partners who are in it for the right reasons.”

What responsible kindness looks like

Lubner uses a phrase that captures Afrika Tikkun’s ethos perfectly: “responsible kindness.” It’s the idea that genuine care for another person means holding them accountable, not just making them comfortable. Giving them tools, not just support. Creating the conditions for agency, not dependency.

He tells the story of a cyclist who sacrificed his own race time to help a fellow rider who had broken down on the course. Nobody asked him to stop. He just did. “That,” says Lubner, “is tikkun.”

His message to young South Africans is equally direct: “You have a choice. Invest in yourself. Don’t wait for someone else to create your opportunity.”

A call to collaborate

Afrika Tikkun’s work is proof that long-term, community-rooted investment in young people delivers measurable results. But Lubner is clear that no organisation can do this alone.

“Government, private sector, and civil society need to sit together,” he says. “Social organisations must be included in planning and in funding. The problems are too big and too interconnected for any one sector to solve.”

For organisations like Naspers Labs, the partnership with Afrika Tikkun represents the kind of public-private collaboration that can move the needle – combining funding and strategic direction with deep community knowledge and decades of lived experience.

The world, after all, does not heal itself. It takes people willing to show up every day and do the work.

Find out more about Afrika Tikkun's programmes at afrikatikkun.org and explore the Naspers Labs ecosystem at naspers.com/naspers-labs.

This post is sponsored by Naspers Labs and produced by Media24 Advertising and Content Marketing for News24