The June 16 uprising which took place in 1976 was a pivotal event in the history of South Africa. During the youth month the nation pays tribute to the young people who layed down their lives for the liberation of the country.

Edward Mogale Matlou who is the founder of Eddies Mobile Kitchen a company incubated at eKasiLabs Alexandra, that primarily focuses on manufacturing custom made mobile business trailers for the purpose of providing an outlet for entrepreneurs from the community to own, employ and become self-sufficient, celebrated June 16 with a vision of empowering young people within his community. He took the youth month celebration into the streets of Johannesburg as he invited young people to share their voices and opinions on their interpretation of the June 16 National holiday. Eddie later then shared a created a video which had the young people expressing their opinions on his social media. The Video also showcased young artists who used their talents to celebrate youth month.

In an effort to drive the youth development agenda of South Africa, Edward Matlou pays critical attention to reflect on the progress made to address challenges that are a barrier to the success of the youth in South Africa.

“The idea behind this unique celebration is to provide the platform to engage with young people about business and entrepreneurship, as there are so many young people struggling to find jobs and get funding for businesses” , Edward Mogale Matlou – Founder of Eddies Mobile Kitchen

In addition to the video recording of young people sharing their thoughts and opinions, Edward was keen to collaborate with local artists in an initiative that incorporates art into business. Eddies Mobile Kitchen recently began an initiative to subcontract local artists to add creative designs to the trailers according to client specifications. Artists usually suffer from the lack of repeat business therefore collaboration with Eddies Mobile Kitchen is to provide artists with a market to render an income.

“We want to work collectively to reach a mutual goal which is job creation and income generation while adding value to the community”. Edward Magale Matlou – Founder of Eddies Mobile Kitchen

Edward Matlou is working towards finding innovative solutions for income generation within his community even after the youth month celebration. Edward is eager to secure enthusiastic investors to drive the vision of cradle to spoon, which is an initiative that will benefit many communities and provide more opportunities for employment and income generation.