“They Risk Losing”: Wits’ Professor Bhekinkosi Moyo Warns Corporations To Respond to Youth-Led Shift

• Wits professor and CAPSI director Professor Bhekinkosi Moyo spoke at the Trialogue Business in Society Conference 2026 in Johannesburg
• The professor warned companies that ignore what young people want risk losing them completely
• Fellow panellists from Trialogue and Sanlam backed the message, saying strategic and well-integrated social investment is the only approach that holds up when the economy gets tough

A strong message came out of Johannesburg on 6 May 2026. Professor Bhekinkosi Moyo, who heads up the Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment at Wits and teaches at Wits Business School, sat on a panel at the Trialogue Business in Society Conference 2026 alongside Nick Rockey from Trialogue and Thandeka Nkambule from Sanlam. The conversation centred on what corporate social investment looks like now and where it needs to go.

Professor Moyo didn't mince his words. Young people are no longer impressed by companies that do just enough to look good. They want to see real commitment, businesses that genuinely care about people, the planet and their communities. Companies that miss this are playing a dangerous game.

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"If corporates do not respond to this shift, they risk losing an entire generation."

Why the old approach to CSI no longer works?

The world that funded development work a decade ago looks very different today. Western funding is retreating, and new players from across the Global South are filling the space. Professor Moyo said this puts more responsibility on businesses to step in, not as an afterthought but as a core part of how they operate.

The days of writing a cheque at year's end and calling it social investment are numbered. Professor Moyo's argument was that real impact comes when social responsibility gets woven into everyday business decisions, from who a company buys from to how it plans for growth ten years ahead.

Nkambule brought Sanlam's experience into the conversation, talking about programmes for young people that don't just stop at training but open doors to real markets and lasting opportunities. Rockey added that the shift from talking about impact to actually delivering it is picking up pace, with more money going into coordinated efforts that can show results.

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Professor Moyo also took a moment to mark ten years of CAPSI's work, saying the anniversary is a chance to take stock and think carefully about the road ahead.

How this affects SA youth?

South Africa has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the world. When companies invest properly in communities, they create real opportunities, not just once-off job posts but lasting pathways through hiring, training and local suppliers. A business that makes social responsibility part of how it actually runs is one that young people can see themselves in. That's the shift Professor Moyo is calling for.

Read the full press release here.

More on SA youth and employment challenges

• Briefly News reported on hundreds of people showing up for a single waiter job post at a well-known restaurant chain, and the footage of the queue showed just where South Africa currently stands.
• A lot of unemployed young people gathered in Midrand hoping for work, but what they walked away with at the end of the day was far less than anyone expected.
• Qualified social workers stood in heartbreaking queues in KwaZulu-Natal, competing for a handful of government posts.

Source: Briefly News