Student tackles socio-economics

UCT student Caleb Qoyo, who works as the programme co-ordinator at an NGO specialising in supporting pupils from public schools in Khayelitsha, has beaten both the odds and the competition to emerge as one of the brightest young economic thinkers in South Africa.

The 23-year-old economics student won the undergraduate section of the 2019 Nedbank/Old Mutual Budget Speech Competition.

Every year, the organisers of the competition invite young people to share their insights on how to transform the economy.

This year’s question for contestants was: “What are the systemic risks of bitcoin/cryptocurrencies, if any, and have regulators been sufficiently aware of any risks?”

In his winning essay, Qoyo determined that bitcoin did not pose a systemic risk.

Growing up in Queenstown, Qoyo witnessed some of the country’s harshest socio-economic realities.

“I am a kasi kid through and through. I have fond memories of growing up in a very sheltered environment, oblivious to the issues of crime and substance abuse that would later see,” Qoyo said.

At home, he was surrounded by a loving and supportive family.

His parents encouraged their children to read and write at an early age.

Although his family was very poor, Qoyo and his siblings were blessed with opportunities.

One example was when his Grade 10 English teacher presented him with his own school blazer.

He’d often had to borrow one when attending inter-school debates or quizzes.

“Growing up there gave me practical experience of what it is like to be on the receiving end of government’s attempts to address poverty and inequality,” Qoyo said.

Through interventions such as social wage and job creation programmes, he witnessed how many efforts by the government failed to be effective, and how this impacted recipients’ lives.

Seeing this shaped his views about the role of the governments in economies. It showed him that too many poor South Africans did not understand how the economy worked, and how to participate in it.

His approach to economics was further

Ishaped by seeing his peers struggle with the issues that plague much of South Africa; heading up households, alcoholism, and loss of hope that they could be better off than their parents.

Teachers would often have to double as counsellors and substitute parents or fill other roles.

“Children with backgrounds like mine seemed set to fail when compared to their middle-class counterparts, regardless of our similar abilities and ambition,” Qoyo said.

This fuelled the economics student’s interest in driving positive and meaningful change in the public schooling system.

In between studying, he works as the programme co-ordinator at an NGO, the Emagqabini Education Academy.

They specialise in tutoring, mentorship and career guidance for pupils from public schools in Khayelitsha.

Qoyo plans to start his own NGO within the socio-economic field.

“There are many obstacles that still need to be addressed at a social and economic level if we are going to make good on all these dreams we have,” he said.

He says he has two business ideas up his sleeve.