Cyril Ramaphosa Education Trust

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Cyril Ramaphosa Education Trust

Established in 1996, CRET has enabled over 500 young people to realise their education, skills development and career dreams and aspirations.

The Cyril Ramaphosa Education Trust, a partner entity of the Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation,provides holistic bursary support towards tertiary studies for deserving students, while providing young adults with opportunities to gain essential work experience. Cyril Ramaphosa Education Trust (CRET) implements a holistic bursary support programme that offers students academic and skills development support, career guidance, psycho-social support, soft skills training, and ongoing mentorship to ensure real throughput success.

17/09/2026

For years, CRET has walked alongside South African youth on their journey from learning to earning, building skills, opening doors and creating pathways to real employment.

Since its origins in 1996 and formal inception in 2000, that journey has grown from informal support for individual students into an integrated model combining financial assistance, academic support, mentorship and career readiness.

This video, brought to life by one of our partners, Marketing2theMax, looks back at that journey: the graduates, the partnerships and the impact we have built together with funders, corporates and communities who believe in youth potential.

As we look ahead, campaigns like Drive to Thrive show that our work is evolving to meet young people where the real barriers are, because readiness alone is not always enough.

15/09/2026

Partnership is how we help more young people move from readiness to opportunity.

For many young graduates, the journey from qualification to employment is interrupted by one practical barrier: transport. At our Graduate Recognition and Partnership Celebration on 27 August, we officially launched Drive to Thrive, our campaign to help young people access driver training, driver’s licences and mobility support that open the door to employment.

A driver’s licence can be the difference between readiness and opportunity, especially for young people who are qualified, motivated and prepared for work but still need practical mobility support.

Since 2020, CRET has made driver training part of its integrated holistic support, and 92 beneficiaries have received training to date. Drivio is our current main partner on this journey, with the campaign further endorsed by Charmont Media Global, FOCUS on Transport and Logistics, and SHEQ Management. Together, the initiative supports driver’s licence training, road safety and women in mobility.

Produced by our partner, Marketing2theMax, this video tells the story of Drive to Thrive, and how you can partner with us to help more young people move forward.

We welcome partners, corporates, funders and individuals who share our commitment to youth employment, mobility and safer roads. If your organisation wants to help young people build mobility, confidence and work readiness, we would love to hear from you; get in touch to join us as a partner.
Read more about Drive to Thrive here: https://www.bizcommunity.com/article/no-licence-no-job-397498a

09/09/2026

On 27 August, CRET held its Graduate Recognition and Partnership Event and launched its Drive to Thrive campaign. Drive to Thrive helps young people overcome mobility barriers by funding driver training and driver’s licences that improve access to employment opportunities. The launch was made more meaningful by the partners and supporters who joined CRET in recognising both graduate achievement and the practical barriers that young people continue to face as they move towards employment.

Your presence and support helped amplify an important message: youth employability is shaped not only by academic achievement, but also by access to the practical tools, mobility and networks that make work possible.

A heartfelt thank you to our partners and sponsors who made the evening possible: Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation, Zoetendal Vineyards and Estate, BMW Driving Experience, Drivio, Marketing2theMax, SMD Technologies, Grindrod, Huawei, Hotel Sky, Jimmy Choo, JP Morgan, Van Schaik, KD Foods, FOCUS on Transport and Logistics, Charmont Media Global, SHEQ Management, Merafe Resources, Motion One, Thrive Student Living, Paper Packaging and Val Aqua.

As Drive to Thrive moves forward, CRET looks forward to working with partners who share our commitment to youth employment, safer mobility and holistic support for young people. Read more about the campaign here: https://lnkd.in/dsNANUNk

01/09/2026

On 27 August 2026, CRET brought together partners, graduates, alumni, beneficiaries, funders and youth development stakeholders for an evening that celebrated achievement and called for action.

The CRET Graduate and Drive to Thrive Celebration recognised the achievements of 14 CRET graduates and officially launched Drive to Thrive, CRET’s campaign to improve youth mobility, support lawful driver training and strengthen pathways to employment.

The graduate stories shared on the night reminded us how far determination can carry a young person when matched with the right support. They also reminded us that the next barrier is not always academic. Sometimes it is transport, mobility or access to a driver’s licence.

Drive to Thrive was launched to address this gap by helping young people access the driver training journey and mobility support that can improve their prospects of work.

We continue to welcome partners, corporates, funders and individuals who share our commitment to youth employment, mobility and safer roads. Together, we can help more young people move from readiness to opportunity.

27/08/2026

For a young person ready to enter employment, the cost of obtaining a driver’s licence can be the difference between being shortlisted and being appointed. In South Africa, professional driver training, learner’s licence preparation, driving lessons and licence-related costs can quickly become unaffordable for young people already carrying the financial pressure of transport, applications, interviews and the transition from study into work.

This is not a small barrier. It is a practical cost with long-term consequences for young people who are ready to pursue work but do not yet have the mobility required for certain opportunities.

Through Drive to Thrive, CRET is working with strategic implementation partners while mobilising corporate and individual support to make learner’s and driver’s licences accessible to the young people who need them most.

If your organisation shares our commitment to youth employment, mobility and dignity, we invite you to partner with us. Your support can contribute towards the driver training journey and help more young people access the mobility they need to pursue work opportunities.

26/08/2026

Drive to Thrive is not only a driver’s licence campaign. It is a youth mobility, employment and road-safety intervention designed to help young people get behind the wheel and closer to meaningful work.

At its core, the initiative responds to a simple but serious reality: many entry-level and graduate opportunities require a driver’s licence, yet professional driver training remains out of reach for young people who cannot afford it. By addressing this gap, Drive to Thrive supports access to employment while promoting lawful driver training and responsible road behaviour.

The campaign also looks beyond individual licences to the wider mobility ecosystem, including opportunities to support women’s participation in employment through pathways such as female driving instructor training.

By addressing mobility as an employability issue, Drive to Thrive helps young people access opportunity with greater confidence, independence and safety.

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25/08/2026

A qualification should open the door to employment. Yet for many young graduates, one practical requirement can still keep that door closed.

Tumelo Malebana matriculated, secured a bursary and completed a BSc in Civil Engineering, a scarce-skills qualification South Africa needs. Twice, he reached the final stages of a job opportunity. Twice, he was held back, not by a lack of ability, but because he did not yet have a driver’s licence.

"Before obtaining my driver’s licence, I lost two job opportunities because I did not meet this requirement.” - Tumelo Malebana, CRET alumnus and Site Engineer at WBHO.

A driver’s licence has quietly become a hidden requirement across engineering, logistics, sales, community development and other field-based professions. For many capable young people, the qualification is within reach. The licence is not, simply because of cost.

At the Cyril Ramaphosa Education Trust (CRET), we saw an opportunity to address this barrier as part of our integrated and holistic approach to youth development and employability. Since 2020, driver training has been built into our bursary programme on the same footing as academic support. To date, we have helped 91 young South Africans on their journey to a licence and, with it, a fairer shot at employment.

This is the heart of our Drive to Thrive Campaign: closing the small, practical gaps that stand between talent and opportunity.

Sometimes the barrier between being qualified and being employed is not ability. It is access to a driver’s licence.

19/08/2026

When people from different countries, generations and professional backgrounds come together to share insights about education, opportunity and inequality, the conversation becomes more than academic. It becomes a powerful cross-cultural exchange about how learning is experienced, supported and made meaningful across different contexts.

This was the spirit of CRET’s recent engagement with a cohort from Central Michigan University in the United States: academics and students pursuing their master’s qualifications. They joined CRET Executive Director Chantelle Oosthuizen and CRET alumni for a dialogue on Education, Social Justice and Youth Opportunity in South Africa.

The discussion brought different perspectives into conversation through a shared reflection on what it takes for people to access, remain in and succeed through education. The mix of academic, professional and lived experience in the room added depth to the exchange, showing that education is not a single journey, but a lifelong pursuit shaped by context, opportunity, and support.

CRET alumni Thami Gaizde, Samantha Luthuli, Noluthando Malindi, Thabang Vilakazi and Dr Sazi Nzama generously shared their education journeys, the barriers they overcame and the support that helped them reach their goals. As graduates and working professionals, their reflections offered practical insight into educational inequality, the hidden costs of higher education, diverse pathways into and through education, and the responsibility of those who have progressed to help create opportunities for others.

CRET extends appreciation to our CMU guests and to our alumni for sharing their experiences so generously, and for engaging with curiosity, openness and respect. Such cross-cultural exchanges deepen our shared understanding, challenge assumptions, and remind us that education is both a local reality and a global responsibility.

03/08/2026

Twenty-one years ago, Cyril Madiba applied for a CRET bursary. He was turned down. He applied again. When Cyril Ramaphosa Education Trust finally said yes, it did more than fund a degree, it opened a door he had been knocking on with everything he had.

Today, that door has come full circle. We are pleased to announce that Cyril Madiba has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation, effective 1 August 2026.

A proud CRET alumnus, Cyril became the first in his family to graduate from university, then qualified as a Chartered Accountant, and built a career across auditing, investment banking and the non-profit sector before returning home to the Foundation in 2024, as CFO. Since February 2026, he has led as Interim CEO, and today we celebrate him stepping fully into the role, leading the very organisation that once believed in him before he had the chance to prove himself.

This is what CRET exists to do. We do not just fund tuition. We invest in potential, persistence and young people who have not yet had the opportunity to show the world what they are capable of. Cyril’s journey is living proof of the long-term impact of education funding, youth development and belief backed by action.

To every young person who is still knocking on doors, still being told not yet, still holding onto a dream that feels far away: keep going. Believe in your potential, even when the odds have not caught up to it yet. Stay intentional about your goals. Your full-circle moment is still being written.

Congratulations, Cyril. You are one of us, and today, all of us at CRET stand a little taller because of you.

Address

18 Acacia Road, Chislehurston
Sandton
2196

Telephone

+27115926580

Website

https://www.cyrilramaphosafoundation.org/project/cret/

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