Membership-based organisation Proudly South African (SA) says it is determined to be part of the solution to the country’s high unemployment rate and, through its new Second Half campaign, show ordinary people that they can be part of the solution to this and the poor state of South Africa’s economy.

The organisation reiterates that South Africa has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world, recorded at 32.9% in the first quarter of this year.

Moreover, data published by Statistics South Africa showed that 179 000 jobs had been lost between the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of this year. The total number of persons unemployed was 7.9-million in the first quarter.

Proudly SA’s new campaign is an analogy of a sports match and is titled Second Half.

Through this analogy, Proudly SA views the years leading up to the Covid-19 pandemic as the first half of the “game” of job creation and poverty alleviation, showcased in its previous consumer campaign known as the First Half, narrated by South African actor Dr John Kani.

As the title suggests, Second Half represents the time when the country needs to regroup, recover, revisit the game plan, rethink its loyalty to South African products and services, as well as collectively push forward for a win in "economic restoration for South Africa and its people", the organisation states.

As part of its ongoing campaign, Proudly SA has also launched a Second Half television commercial which puts the country’s future labour force in the spotlight.

This demonstrates the direct impact that consumers can have on the future of South Africa's children if they buy and support homegrown products and services, it highlights.

Second Half depicts eight labour-intensive industries that are within government’s sectoral masterplans. These sectors are agroprocessing; furniture; clothing, textile, footwear and leather; steel and construction; manufacturing; aviation; automotive; and food and beverages.

“Every rand spent on local products helps to rebuild the South African economy and contributes to retaining and creating jobs. Proudly SA’s message is clear – buying locally manufactured goods and services helps to create a demand for local jobs which has a direct impact on today’s youth and future generations.

“Many countries, such as China, are thriving because of the strength in localisation and export powers. This compels us as South Africans to be more intentional and robust about localising the goods that we consume or use,” Proudly SA states.

“We are stepping into a future that we can collectively be proud of because we individually would have contributed. Through the Second Half, our goal is to emotively connect with consumers in a way that’s close to home – our children’s fate lies in our hands, and we must do something about it.

“Most importantly, we must do right by them. These sectors are everywhere around us, so we strongly encourage consumers to make the right purchasing decisions when they buy anything from consumables, furniture and white goods, to using services providers that are vocal about using local supplies,” emphasises Proudly SA CEO Eustace Mashimbye.

“Our goal is to encourage buying local as this directly creates jobs and this in turn benefits our children who have big dreams to make their own impact one day. We cannot emphasise the power of buying local enough.

“We can only address youth unemployment by thinking about our buying decisions. If we support locally manufactured goods, we are building our nation and the economy. A strong economy lies in the hands of our children – the youth – and it is incumbent on us to pave the way for them through localisation,” Mashimbye adds.