Building empires and taking on the world
AT JUST 21, Zareef Minty has achieved more than most people his age.
Over the past three years, the Wits University student has established his own clothing line, started his own talent company, and also been the president of a political party’s youth league.
His achievements at such a young age also earned him a place in last year’s Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans.
Now Minty can add yet another impressive feat to his growing list of achievements.
The final-year law student has just finished writing a selfempowerment book titled Empire, which will be released in three weeks.
The book includes 18 chapters that look at different ways of realigning young people’s mindsets. Minty said he started writing the book two years ago.
“Empire is all about building young people’s mindsets. Teaching them about branding, about networking, and about commercialising one’s self,” Minty said.
“A lot of young people are unable to create that bridge between having a degree and being educated, actually taking it one step further into the corporate world.
“I found many young people don’t know how to network and engage with people.
“This book is just a solution to help young people address these issues,” he said.
As a youngster himself, Minty conceded that getting credibility at the age of 21 is difficult.
“Lots of people will question the book I wrote. They will ask themselves why they should read my book? What do I know about life that I can give advice to others?
“I feel my past experiences have allowed me to learn a lot about life and I feel there is something I can offer to the youth.”
“Also it is not only my experiences and advice that are included in the book.
“I have included prominent role models like former president Nelson Mandela, Richard Branson and Muhammad Ali, who were all incredibly successful in what they did,” he added
Minty said he hopes this book will help in changing the mindsets of young South Africans.
“The youth of today don’t have the correct mindset.
“We are brought up in a society where people expect so little of us.
“Look at the education sector, for instance. The pass rate at school has gone down to 30 percent.
“We need to raise the expectation of our youth. If society can raise the expectation of young people in South Africa, we can definitely succeed,” he said.
Minty added that his book is not only targeted at youngsters who are at school and university, but also at those who have dropped out.
“The book does exactly what the cover says.
“It literally gives you the opportunity to build your own empire, whether you are a university student or a drop-out.
“It gives you the knowledge and the tools to help you network. Once you can network, it gives you the opportunity to be successful whether you have an education or not,” he said.
Minty, who will be self-publishing his book, brims with confidence that his book will be a success when it is released to the public.
“One of our future presi- dents will begin their journeys reading Empire.
“I believe that Empire is a valuable book that will go a long way in helping the youth move forward.”
While he is very proud of his book and the rest of his achievements, Minty realises he still has a long way to go to make a real difference in society.
“I really feel like I haven’t done enough yet.
“At 21, I am not where I want to be and I want to reach much higher levels.
“As much as accolades and achievements … look great on a CV and people really respect you for that, I want to be one step further…
“I want to positively influence society in South Africa.
“I want to be someone who will be remembered even 40 or 50 years from now for doing something positive for society in South Africa,” he said.