New tech campus targets jobs for South Africa’s youth

Many more Johannesburg youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds now have the opportunity to train for high-demand technology careers at the Maharishi NextUp Institute of Technology (MNIT). 

South African-born American entrepreneurs and philanthropists David and Tracey Frankel, with their NextUp Foundation, and Dr Taddy Blecher and the Maharishi Invincibility Institute partnered in this innovative educational venture, which launched on 18 March. 

Their goal is to equip young people with skills in areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, software development, robotics, and financial technology, while connecting them directly to employers who need those skills. 

Although the Frankels now live in the United States, their philanthropic work remains closely tied to South Africa, particularly Johannesburg, where they both grew up. Through NextUp, the couple have focused on preparing young people for higher education and employment, working with local partners, schools, and training institutions to expand opportunities for disadvantaged youth. 

“We’ve been blessed with unfair opportunities,” Frankel told the SA Jewish Report. “Can we make a dent in the universe in terms of giving unfair opportunities to disadvantaged kids who really deserve it?” 

Central to the MNIT model is what Frankel and Blecher describe as demand-driven education. Instead of offering generic qualifications, the institute works directly with large employers to identify specific skills shortages. “When we work with corporates, we find the critical scarce skills they have,” Blecher says. “Then we train unemployed kids who will come and work for them.” 

Frankel says this approach was one of the reasons NextUp chose to partner with Maharishi rather than build a separate institution. “They reverse-engineer technology needs in the Johannesburg employment environment and train people for those jobs,” he says. “There’s tremendous demand for tech talent in South Africa. Someone just has to do the training.” 

Another defining feature of the programme is its focus on the broader circumstances facing students. Many come from communities where poverty, unstable housing, and trauma create barriers to education long before the classroom. “You can do all the academics,” Frankel says, “but these kids are coming from hard backgrounds.” 

The institute therefore provides extensive support, including stipends, food assistance, transport, social workers, and mentorship. Students also receive training in communication, confidence, and workplace skills. 

“There are so many soft skills that make someone sustainably employable,” Frankel says. “You have to think about the whole person.” Blecher agrees that the holistic approach is essential. “If you truly love other people, you empower them so that they can be great,” he says. “It’s about helping individuals realise their full potential.” 

NextUp originally began by working with high schools in Olievenhoutbosch, near Pretoria, helping pupils prepare for tertiary study and employment. Over time, the team placed students in institutions including the Maharishi Institute, Stellenbosch University, and the University of South Africa. But Frankel and his colleagues realised the scale of the challenge demanded something larger. 

“We had to have a much bigger top-of-the-funnel,” he says. “There are so many kids that deserve a shot at this.” A solution emerged through a collaboration with Blecher, the founder of the Maharishi Invincibility Institute, who has spent decades building a model that combines education with job placement. “We are in awe of what Taddy and the team at Maharishi have already achieved and we’re simply throwing another log on their burning fire,” says Frankel. 

Blecher’s journey into education began with a dramatic decision in 1995. At the time, he was the top actuarial science student in South Africa and had a promising international career ahead of him. “I bought my air ticket, I was leaving in two weeks,” he recalls. “Then I stayed up all night, cried my eyes out, and went to see my mother the next day and said, ‘I’m not leaving. I’m going into the townships and I’m going to help kids.’” 

Within a week he was working in Alexandra township. After several years helping youngsters complete school, he noticed a troubling pattern. “We worked in Alex and in Soweto and had amazing results helping kids pass school, but then found them ending up on the streets because of massive youth unemployment,” he says. 

That realisation led to the founding of a free tertiary education programme that eventually evolved into the Maharishi Invincibility Institute, which opened in 2007. 

More than 25 000 students have been educated through its programmes, with more than 22 000 placed into employment. Graduates have already earned billions of rands in combined salaries, with a high rate of long-term employment. 

“We’ve had a 95% job placement rate over two decades,” Blecher says. “Education changes everything. It brings people out of poverty and creates dignity.” 

MNIT aims to expand this approach into the rapidly evolving technology sector. 

MNIT and the Maharishi Institute are also tied to a broader vision for Johannesburg’s inner city. Maharishi has been working for several years to transform parts of the central business district into what Blecher calls an “education town”, a cluster of campuses, sports facilities, and cultural spaces designed to bring thousands of students into the area. 

The aim is to create an ecosystem where education institutions, employers, and community organisations operate alongside one another, drawing large numbers of students into the city centre and supporting its renewal. “We hope to train and place 100 000 young people into quality jobs,” Blecher says. “Ultimately, that can put enormous resources back into poor families.” 

For Frankel, the partnership reflects both a practical response to South Africa’s unemployment crisis and values rooted in his upbringing. “The privilege of Tracey and me both being born into loving Jewish families that valued education so highly has completely shaped our initiative,” he says. 

Blecher says similar values shaped his path. “Judaism is about dignity, ethics, and respect for others,” he says. “If you empower young people with education and purpose, you build a stable and beautiful society.” 

Frankel says the measure of success is simple: “We haven’t changed a life until someone is educated, employed, and sustaining themselves.” 

In a country where youth unemployment remains one of the defining challenges of the post-apartheid era, the institute’s founders say the goal is straightforward: give young people the skills employers need and ensure that opportunity leads to lasting employment and dignity.