University Kick Start Roadshow to Equip More Than 10,000 South African Students with Career-Ready Skills

This Women’s Month, University Kick Start Takes the Conversation About Careers to Campuses Nationwide as students prepare for the transition from campus to the workplace

Women’s Month is a time to remember the significance of women’s contribution to South Africa’s progress – and to consider how the next generation will shape the country’s future.

It is against this backdrop that entrepreneur and communications professional Boitumelo Motsepe has taken the University Kick Start Roadshow national for the first time, bringing practical career-readiness conversations directly to students across South Africa.

Launched on 3 August 2026, the roadshow comes at an important point in the university calendar, as students return to campus for the second half of the academic year and begin looking ahead to examinations, graduation, internships, graduate programmes and entry into the workplace.

The initiative will run through August and September, travelling across Gauteng, North West, KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape. The programme has already engaged students at four Gauteng institutions in its first week, including Emeris and Eduvos, with upcoming engagements planned at institutions including the University of Pretoria (UP), University of the Western Cape (UWC), Nelson Mandela University (NMU), North-West University (NWU) and the University of Cape Town (UCT).

For Motsepe, Founder of the Kick Start Roadshow and Co-Founder of Motsepe Advertising, the timing is particularly significant.

“Women’s Month reminds us of the contribution women have made to building our country and, importantly, of the responsibility we all have to create opportunities for the next generation,” says Motsepe. “Launching Kick Start during this month gives us an opportunity to have a very practical conversation with young people about their futures – what the workplace expects, how they can prepare themselves and how they can begin positioning themselves for opportunities while they are still studying.”

The University Kick Start Roadshow is designed to address the gap between academic preparation and workplace readiness, helping students understand that entering the world of work requires more than a qualification.

Through practical and interactive engagements, students are introduced to areas such as CV development, personal branding, portfolio building, networking, job applications, professional communication, workplace etiquette and the responsible use of AI-powered career tools.

The roadshow is delivered through a combination of on-campus activations, student engagement, public relations, social media content and radio interviews, creating multiple touchpoints through which students can engage with the programme and its message.

The national expansion is significant: 2026 is the first year that the University Kick Start Roadshow has been rolled out nationally.

The August and September schedule also provides an opportunity to meet students at a particularly relevant stage of their academic journey. For final-year students, the countdown to graduation and entry into the job market is becoming more immediate, while younger students have an opportunity to begin building career awareness and professional skills before they reach their final year.

“The transition from university to the workplace should not be something students only start thinking about when they graduate,” says Motsepe. “There are things they can be doing throughout their university journey – building their networks, developing their personal brand, understanding the professional environment and learning how to communicate their value.”

By taking these conversations directly to campuses, the University Kick Start Roadshow aims to help students move beyond simply asking “What qualification will I graduate with?” to asking “How prepared am I for what comes next?”

As the roadshow travels nationally through September, it will bring this conversation to students across five provinces, connecting the realities of higher education with the expectations of the workplace.

Women’s Month provides the moment. The university calendar provides the opportunity. Kick Start is taking the conversation to where the next generation is preparing for its future.

About the University Kick Start Roadshow

The University Kick Start Roadshow is a national career-readiness initiative designed to prepare university and college students for the transition from education into the workplace. Through practical learning, on-campus activations, student engagement, industry exposure and media platforms, the programme equips young people with the knowledge, skills and confidence required to navigate the professional world.

The 2026 edition marks the first national rollout of the roadshow, reaching students across Gauteng, North West, KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape.