UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA (UNISA)
College of Human Sciences
⋄
COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY INTERVENTION:
YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IN A SOUTH
AFRICAN TOWNSHIP
PYC3716 — Community Psychology
Assignment 1 — Semester 1 2026
⋄
Module Code: PYC3716
Module Name: Community Psychology
Student Name: [Student Name]
Student Number: [Student Number]
Assignment No.: Assignment 1
Due Date: 27 March 2026
Semester: Semester 1 – 2026
Unique Number: [Unique Number]
, UNISA | PYC3716 Community Psychology Intervention Project
Section 1: A Challenge in My Community
The community I am writing about is Tembisa, one of the largest townships in Gauteng, South
Africa. It sits between Kempton Park and Midrand and is home to an estimated 463 000 resi-
dents, the majority of whom are young people. That concentration of youth should, in theory,
be an asset. In practice, it has become something more complicated.
Youth unemployment is the defining challenge of Tembisa right now. Statistics South Africa
recorded a national youth unemployment rate of 45.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2023,
and in township areas like Tembisa the rate climbs higher still (Stats SA, 2023). Walk along
Isifundiseni Road or through the Rabie Ridge area on a Tuesday morning and you see it with-
out any statistics: groups of young men and women in their early twenties sitting outside
tuckshops, not because they choose idleness but because the labour market has run out of
doors to knock on.
The psychological effects compound the economic ones. Young people who cannot find
work after finishing school or even tertiary education describe feelings of shame, worthless-
ness, and a disconnection from the adult world they were supposed to enter (Seedat, Duncan
and Lazarus, 2001). Some turn to substance abuse. Others join gangs, not because they are
violent by nature but because the gang offers the belonging, income, and identity that formal
structures have failed to provide. The problem, in other words, is not only about money. It
cuts into dignity, mental health, family relationships, and the community’s sense of collective
future.
What makes this challenge particularly stubborn is that it is not caused by any single factor.
Apartheid-era spatial planning deliberately placed townships far from economic activity, and
that geography persists. The education system produces graduates whose qualifications do
not match what employers want. Businesses do not invest in townships at scale because
of infrastructure gaps and perceived risk. Each of these causes reinforces the others, and
no individual or family can solve any of them alone. That is exactly the kind of problem that
community psychology exists to address.
Page 2 of 10
College of Human Sciences
⋄
COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY INTERVENTION:
YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IN A SOUTH
AFRICAN TOWNSHIP
PYC3716 — Community Psychology
Assignment 1 — Semester 1 2026
⋄
Module Code: PYC3716
Module Name: Community Psychology
Student Name: [Student Name]
Student Number: [Student Number]
Assignment No.: Assignment 1
Due Date: 27 March 2026
Semester: Semester 1 – 2026
Unique Number: [Unique Number]
, UNISA | PYC3716 Community Psychology Intervention Project
Section 1: A Challenge in My Community
The community I am writing about is Tembisa, one of the largest townships in Gauteng, South
Africa. It sits between Kempton Park and Midrand and is home to an estimated 463 000 resi-
dents, the majority of whom are young people. That concentration of youth should, in theory,
be an asset. In practice, it has become something more complicated.
Youth unemployment is the defining challenge of Tembisa right now. Statistics South Africa
recorded a national youth unemployment rate of 45.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2023,
and in township areas like Tembisa the rate climbs higher still (Stats SA, 2023). Walk along
Isifundiseni Road or through the Rabie Ridge area on a Tuesday morning and you see it with-
out any statistics: groups of young men and women in their early twenties sitting outside
tuckshops, not because they choose idleness but because the labour market has run out of
doors to knock on.
The psychological effects compound the economic ones. Young people who cannot find
work after finishing school or even tertiary education describe feelings of shame, worthless-
ness, and a disconnection from the adult world they were supposed to enter (Seedat, Duncan
and Lazarus, 2001). Some turn to substance abuse. Others join gangs, not because they are
violent by nature but because the gang offers the belonging, income, and identity that formal
structures have failed to provide. The problem, in other words, is not only about money. It
cuts into dignity, mental health, family relationships, and the community’s sense of collective
future.
What makes this challenge particularly stubborn is that it is not caused by any single factor.
Apartheid-era spatial planning deliberately placed townships far from economic activity, and
that geography persists. The education system produces graduates whose qualifications do
not match what employers want. Businesses do not invest in townships at scale because
of infrastructure gaps and perceived risk. Each of these causes reinforces the others, and
no individual or family can solve any of them alone. That is exactly the kind of problem that
community psychology exists to address.
Page 2 of 10
