The panelists (L-R) Ravi Pillay ( GIBS)Prof Lucia Anelich (Anelich Consulting) Kanthan pillay ( 919 FM) and Nathan Mariemuthu from empire partner foundation.

South Africa must rely on technology and its many different players to build more cohesiveness and tackle social challenges than before.

Ravi  Pillay, faculty and multi-stakeholder partnership facilitator at University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) faculty member, said this at the launch of a new tech social compact initiative.

The aim of the initiative is to encourage innovative, technology-driven solutions to South Africa's challenges by bringing together civil society, industry, academia, and government.

University of Pretoria’s, GIBS business school, along with tech, the non-profit Empire Partner Foundation (EPF), a Sandton-based radio station, 919, and Anelich Consulting are pushing the tech focused initiative.

According to the trio, the "Unity in Action: Crafting Solutions for a Stronger South Africa" program is a collaborative approach to developing a problem-solving process that will benefit and enhance the country.

This comes as South Africa faces major challenges in water, electricity, healthcare, education, agriculture, housing, unemployment, safety and security, transportation, and rural development.

According to Pillay, these difficulties are interconnected and systemic, needing comprehensive and integrative solutions.

In his remarks, Pillay from GIBS noted that sharing synergies is crucial to overcoming some of the country's issues.

For example, he said that the government may provide policy frameworks and institutional support, whilst industry can contribute technological innovation and scalability.

He remarked: "Academia provides evidence-based research, whereas civil society connects us to the lived realities of people most impacted by these concerns. Let us not forget those communities."

Nathan Mariemuthu, who has been EPF since 2016 and has empowered over 1000 young people from previously disadvantaged backgrounds by introducing them to the world of technology to help them compete in the rapidly changing economy, stated: "I will spend the rest of my life developing a methodology for addressing public safety issues. And I want to achieve it with technology."

He continued: “I knew that these problems are growing. We keep seeing them growing all the time for whatever societal dynamic reasons. We are the youngest continent, 65% of our population is below the age of 25 on the continent. It's the biggest asset you can find. So I said if we have that asset we must have a solution.”

To that end, he stated that key objectives included developing and refining a problem-solving process that addresses real-world difficulties in South Africa, as well as fostering a multi-stakeholder community dedicated to generating and implementing sustainable tech based solutions.