South African media star Anele Mdoda is using her voice to speak out about a serious issue — youth unemployment. As the country celebrates Youth Month, Anele says it’s time to focus less on celebrations and more on the growing crisis that many young people face every day.
According to Daily Sun, Anele was speaking at the launch of Spaan, a new project aimed at empowering youth. During her speech, she didn’t hold back. The 41-year-old radio host and TV presenter highlighted how the lack of jobs is hurting the country’s youth — not just financially, but emotionally and mentally too.
“What story are we going to tell this year? Besides me playing Sarafina, there’s a story — and that story is unemployment,” she said. Her words were a call to action for leaders, communities, and all South Africans to take this issue seriously.
Anele, best known for her show Anele and The Club on 947, spoke about how unemployment affects mental health. She explained that not having a job doesn’t just mean no money — it also takes away a sense of purpose, which can lead to depression and anxiety. “When you look at the challenges we face with mental illness and anxiety, much of it is rooted in the absence of purpose — and that’s what unemployment strips away,” she said.
With a career spanning radio, TV, business, and writing, Anele has built a powerful platform — and she’s using it to shine a light on this crisis. She believes that unemployment is at the root of many other social problems, even those we might not immediately connect to joblessness.
“If we can all say in this room that we’re going to go out and attack unemployment, then we’ll also be tackling many other societal issues that don’t always present themselves as unemployment — but are caused by it,” Anele added.
