The app that UJ developed to run the survey was one of the university’s most advanced apps at the time. It made use of real time geolocation and monitoring technology to track fieldworkers’ movements and to assess their proximity to respondents. “This limited the chance of any errors or discrepancies,” explains Nickey, “and meant that we were able to gather authentic, reliable and dynamic data.”

The project’s key focus, however, was upskilling and empowering unemployed youth who were trained to use the technology UJ had developed and were provided with valuable on-the-job experience. They were also allowed to keep their devices if they completed the project.

“This kind of access to information can be life changing  for people from poorer communities,” says Banele. “It can be the very thing that helps them find permanent employment.”

Although he initially joined the project as a fieldworker, Banele’s journey took a unique course. After just two weeks in the field, Banele became a facilitator and, later,  a quality and distribution agent, an assistant in both logistics planning and map population, and a supervisor.
His roles required a sharp, technical mind and the ability to improvise. Banele fit the bill.

The way that UJ used technology to deal creatively and in a solutions-orientated way, both with the survey’s research demands and South Africa’s unemployment problem, affected Banele’s outlook fundamentally.

“My work with UJ made me realise that I want to continue to learn as much as I possibly can,” he says. This journey is already under way: Banele is considering studying again – coding, he thinks.

“I believe that my generation has bigger and better opportunities than my parents’ generation. We don’t have to settle for positions in retail anymore. 4IR is changing everything.”

Banele is also bringing his skills and knowledge home to where he lives in Daveyton on Johannesburg’s East Rand. He has started Yenzokuhle Social Enterprise and Skills Village, a social project that aims to address some of the issues in his community by helping youngsters to build things using waste material, to be innovative, and to imagine different futures for themselves.

4IR has shifted what Banele believes is possible – for himself and for others. Where to from here, not even he knows, but it is undoubtedly a future alive with potential.