CHANGE MAKER: Young people are Jozi’s new gold

‘One day I’d like to be involved in ­government policymaking,” says Melusi Khumalo (26), head of the student chapter of Jozi My Jozi, an inner-city revitalisation movement.

It’s a refreshing ambition in the context of widespread youth disillusionment with the current government, evident in the low ­registration number of young voters.

“Young people are the city’s new gold and we need to get them involved,” he says.

Born and raised in Johannesburg, Khumalo has his eye firmly on the future. He’s got a BA degree in public management and governance from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and is doing his honours in public policy. He frequently represents youth perspectives at national dialogues and solution sessions discussing how young people can drive sustainable social change.

Khumalo was elected to the student representative council (SRC) in 2024 and first encountered Jozi My Jozi when he mobilised a group of students to assist in a major clean-up at Ellis Park. Ahead of the Rugby Championship in 2024, Jozi My Jozi partnered with the City of Johannesburg and private partners to upgrade the stadium precinct ahead of the match between South Africa and New Zealand.

In the family

“We students were given reflector vests with the Jozi My Jozi logo … so I googled the organisation and, to my surprise, I saw on its website a picture of people’s signatures – they had signed a pledge to the city – and there was my own brother’s signature,” says Khumalo.

His brother, Cebolenkosi, works for Investec and played a major role in conscientising him, says Khumalo. “Cebo was also a UJ student and president of the SRC there in 2022. He used to give me Steve Biko and Nelson Mandela T-shirts and political books to read… His advice to me was to get students involved in Jozi My Jozi projects.”

Khumalo then met Innocent Mabusela, CEO of Jozi My Jozi, who invited him to get students to engage with Jozi My Jozi at its stand at the Human Rights Festival at Constitutional Hill in March 2025.

They began planning how to get more students to get involved in the rejuvenation of the inner city. The result was a formal agreement to form a student chapter that involved not just UJ, but also students from Wits University and the Maharishi Invincibility Institute, which is an inner-city skills-to-work open university.

More than 3,000 students at UJ have since become involved, and along with the other campuses have participated in clean-ups around the city, Mandela Day activities and the city’s first ever point-in-time count to address homelessness.

‘Vilakazi Street of Academics’

Khumalo is also the key driver behind an initiative to transform Annet Road – the corridor connecting UJ and Wits University – into a safe, clean and vibrant precinct that’s been dubbed the Vilakazi Street of Academics.

Many students have raised concerns about crime, poor maintenance and a deteriorating environment around these education hubs. The vision is to make a more welcoming space for the students, academics, workers and residents who move through the corridor between UJ and Wits every day, instilling civic pride and encouraging a greater collaboration between the universities and surrounding communities.

“It doesn’t feel like hard work,” says Khumalo. “Everything I’m doing at varsity aligns with Jozi My Jozi, and that’s where the love comes from. Our purpose is to connect and empower those who want to inspire sustainable solutions for the inner city, creating a ripple effect of positive change in Johannesburg. Together, we can build a brighter future for Jozi, one step at a time.” DM

Bridget Hilton-Barber is a freelance writer who writes for Jozi My Jozi.

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.