The Phakama Women’s Academy (PWA), the flagship Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiative of VWV Group, has officially welcomed its Class of 2026, marking the 12th annual intake of 22 young women being prepared for the working world. The students, drawn from Emeris, AFDA and the University of Johannesburg, met their mentors at a launch event held at Emeris Campus in Sandton on Friday, 7 August. They join a network of more than 200 young women who have graduated from the programme since its inception in 2014.
The launch comes at a moment when the odds facing young women entering the South African workplace have rarely been steeper. Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the first quarter of 2026 put unemployment among 15 to 24-year-olds at 60,9% and among 25 to 34-year-olds at 40,6%, against a national rate of 32,7%. The burden also falls unevenly with 39,2% of young women aged 15 to 24 not being in employment, education or training, compared with 36,0% of young men — a gap that has widened over the past year.
Closing that gap is what the Academy was built to do. Founded in 2014 by Koo Govender, the first female CEO of VWV Group, PWA teaches the part a degree doesn’t cover. Students arrive qualified; the Academy adds the soft and transferable skills employers look for including workplace readiness, communication, confidence, and the professional networks that so often decide who gets the first opportunity.
“A degree gets you the interview. What happens after that is a different set of skills entirely, and it is not something most graduates are taught,” said Shale Gama, Group Managing Director of VWV Group. “Phakama exists to close that divide. These young women are already qualified and already ambitious. What we add is the practical, transferable skills and the network that turns a qualification into a career.”
Over the next few months, the Class of 2026 will work through six interactive modules. These include Self Aware, Work Ready – turning self-awareness into workplace confidence; Money Matters sponsored by Absa – crafting your financial journey; Ready, Steady, Work – tools for thriving in the job market; The Power of Sisterhood – building bonds that empower; Unleash Your Brand – crafting your unique identity; Welcome to the World of Work – navigating your career path.
However, the modules are only half of it. The other half of the programme is the network and one-on-one mentorship with some of South Africa’s most respected businesswomen, who give their time voluntarily and stay with their mentees well beyond the final module, through to graduation, and in many cases long after.
“Mentoring at Phakama is not about handing someone a career plan. It is about being the person I did not have when I started out, someone who could tell me what the room expects before I walked into it,” said Yithi Zulu, Chief Executive Officer at Yithi Media and a mentor to the Class of 2026.
Twelve years on, that continuity has become the programme’s clearest measure of impact, with alumnae now returning to the cohorts behind them. Tshenolo Mongale, a Public Relations and Communications Management graduate and 2024 Phakama alumna, shared her own Phakama journey at the launch and encouraged the Class of 2026 to take full advantage of the opportunity they have worked hard for.
The mentees arrive with the same thing in mind. Lesego Mogoai, a final-year Motion Picture Film student at AFDA, said she was looking forward to learning how to enhance her skills and collaborate more with others. Khethiwe Mlambo, a final-year Strategic Communications student at the University of Johannesburg, said, “I’m so excited to be starting this journey, to be in this room with such powerful women, connect with them all, learn everything that Phakama has to offer, network and hopefully build myself up.”
Every year, that network grows. The Class of 2026 joins more than 200 women who have come through Phakama — a community that now sends its own alumnae back to inspire the intakes behind them. For each of these young women, the odds, and the career paths open to them, look different because of it.
The Class of 2026 will be recognised for their commitment to personal and professional growth at the PWA Graduation Ceremony later this year.
For more information on the Phakama Women’s Academy visit www.phakama.org. To follow the Class of 2026 journey, visit our social media pages.