Johannesburg Youth Lead City's Renewal at Historic Forum

A high school student stood up at Constitution Hill and shared something no child should have to say. She goes to school hungry in Johannesburg, then comes home to a mother who apologizes for having no food to give her.

Her story opened a powerful dialogue on August 24th, where young activists, budget analysts, and political candidates gathered to reimagine Johannesburg's future. The Metro Lives forum, hosted by the DG Murray Trust, centered on one idea: the city cannot rebuild without treating young people as partners, not just beneficiaries.

Matshidiso Lencoasa, a budget analyst at SECTION27, came prepared with concrete demands. "Johannesburg has these problems, but we also have ideas, we also have solutions," she told the room. "We just need to be intentional about listening to young people."

Lencoasa pointed out that South Africa's celebrated social programs are quietly failing because of how budgets actually work. Year after year, funds for schools and clinics go unspent while children lack basics like water, electricity, and nutritious food. Nobody gets held accountable.

Mark Heywood, co-founder of Union Against Hunger, proposed treating Johannesburg itself as a food-producing space. He described an inner-city farm near Johannesburg Stadium where young people learned about growing food and understanding seasons. The city demolished it to build a multi-purpose center instead.

Heywood suggested mapping and funding the hundreds of community kitchens already keeping people alive. He questioned why the Department of Social Development, with a R1.8 billion budget, wasn't systematically supporting them.

One young woman pushed back against politicians' promises to make Johannesburg "great again." For many young people, she argued, the city was never great to begin with. Apartheid's legacy still determines who gets access to safety, green spaces, and the immaculate sports fields locked behind private schools.

The Ripple Effect

The forum revealed something remarkable happening beneath Johannesburg's struggles. Young people aren't waiting for permission to solve problems anymore. They're analyzing municipal budgets, running community kitchens, and demanding transparency about how their families' tax money gets spent.

Lencoasa reminded everyone that the government's claim of "we don't have funds" refers to public revenue from ordinary people paying income tax and VAT on essentials. Communities are already funding a decent state, she said. They just aren't treated as decision-makers about how that money gets used.

The speakers agreed that meaningful participation means more than one-off consultations around election time. It requires young people having real power to shape city priorities and hold officials accountable when promises go unmet.

Their proposals ranged from supporting informal food traders instead of criminalizing them, to ensuring every school has a food garden worked by students and teachers. These aren't abstract policy ideas but practical solutions born from lived experience.

The message from Constitution Hill was unmistakable: Johannesburg's young people are ready to co-author their city's future, and they're done being sidelined.