Khotso Mokoena launches a development skills program for athletes

This initiative aims to assist high school and university learners, as well as professional athletes, in making decisions that will benefit them in the long run even after they retire from sports.

The 2008 Olympic long jump silver medallist seeks to empower, elevate, and support both aspiring and established athletes by providing opportunities for life during and after their sports careers.

Speaking to SABC Sport Mokoena highlights that such opportunities were unavailable to him and his peers when they were competing.

"I have called SABC, the national broadcaster to come and showcase a program that's here to assist and serve athletes for careers after high school, athletes for careers after sports to help them transition to the corporate world for employability,” Mokena said.

“Whether it be entrepreneurship as well, it's to help them transition into that so that they can also create the success after the sport and after the school.”

Mokoena grew up without access to many opportunities and he is determined to ensure that current and future athletes do not face the same challenges.

His goal is to leave the sport in a better state than he found it.

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"Growing up these kinds of initiatives didn't exist and it's something that as I was becoming a professional athlete, I could see a lot of our sports people and not just in the sports but in the entertainment industry as well I could there was a struggle when they stopped and we could see because most of it was televised,” he explained.

"When athletes and entertainers come and ask for help from the government that's when I realised that actually there's something that's missing that's stopping athletes from becoming successful.

“That's stopping learners from becoming successful post their careers, whether be in high school or whether be from sports. I wanted something like this to exist and I saw slowly immersing myself building slowly by giving myself experience with different projects."