As PRISA’s PRISMS Summit & Awards takes place from 22 to 24 October, The Media Online profiles this year’s Top 10 Young Voices, emerging talent shaping the future of public relations and communications in South Africa.
Selected from a competitive pool of youth entries, each brings a distinct perspective to this year’s theme, Kaleidoscope, Patterns of Impact Across Past, Present and Future’, reflecting on the ideas, experiences and ambitions that will influence the profession’s next chapter.
We asked them:
- What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the South African PR and communications industry today, and what role can young professionals play in addressing it?
- South Africa’s communications landscape is shaped by issues such as inequality, social change, political polarisation and declining trust. How should the next generation of communicators navigate these complexities while protecting credibility and reputation?
- AI is rapidly changing how communications work is researched, created and distributed. What do you see as the biggest opportunity — and the biggest ethical risk — AI presents for young South African communicators?
- Young professionals are entering an industry where traditional PR, social media, content creation, marketing and journalism increasingly overlap. What skills do you believe communicators need to remain relevant and influential over the next five years?
- The PRISMS theme, Kaleidoscope: Patterns of Impact Across Past, Present and Future, asks us to think about how the profession is evolving. What is one thing you would change about the communications industry in South Africa to make it more inclusive, innovative or meaningful for the next generation?
PRISM YOUNG VOICE: AOBAKWE SIBIYA
1. The biggest challenge is trust. People are more sceptical than ever of brands, institutions and the media, and that includes us as communicators. Many people still hear “PR” and think spin. I came into this industry as a consumer first. I was always curious about how brands told their stories, and I noticed early that some felt honest while others felt like they were trying too hard.
Audiences can tell the difference, they always could. Today they simply have more ways to say so.
That’s where young people come in. We were the audience, like, five minutes ago. We know what it feels like to be spoken at instead of spoken to. So our job is to keep that perspective, even as we grow, and to say something when a message sounds polished but wouldn’t convince anyone we know.
Trust won’t come back through one clever campaign. It comes back slowly, through communicators who keep choosing honesty, and I think my generation can help make that normal.
Code-switching
2. South Africa’s communications landscape is shaped by issues such as inequality, social change, political polarisation and declining trust. How should the next generation of communicators navigate these complexities while protecting credibility and reputation?
Most of us have been code-switching our whole lives. How we speak at home, how we speak with our friends, and how we speak at school and at work. We just do it. And I really think that’s a skill, especially in a diverse country like ours.
The same message doesn’t land the same way for everyone. What sounds good in boardroom can sound completely different to a community that’s actually living through it. Sometimes you can’t just translate the story, you have to tell it differently.
And then there’s the whole pressure to react to everything. Something trends, and suddenly every brand needs to post about it. Not every conversation is yours. Sometimes the best thing for your reputation is to sit that one out.
So my take is, don’t try to sound perfect for everyone. Use what you already know from moving between worlds, understand people first, and be real about which conversations you actually belong in.
Boring stuff works
3. The opportunity is time. The risk is losing the part where we actually learn. AI is really effective for research and analysis. Stuff that used to take a whole day can take an hour now. For young people at small agencies or working on their own, that’s a big deal. It levels things out a bit.
But the thing is, a lot of us learn in the boring stuff. Going through coverage, digging into a sector, rewriting a release over and over. That’s how you build judgement. If we skip all of that and go straight to the answer, we might end up fast but not actually good.
And AI does get things wrong. A fake quote or a wrong number in a release isn’t the tool’s problem. It’s ours. So yes, use it but make sure the thinking is still yours.
One story, properly told
4. Storytelling, but in a way that works everywhere. I learnt this on my first big project, when I was working on the launch of a new corporate identity for a client in the financial sector. The thing that made it work was that the message stayed the same from brand to communications. One story, told properly across every channel.
Now with PR, content creation, marketing and journalism overlapping, that’s the job. You might write a release in the morning, prepare someone for a radio interview after lunch and pitch a social media concept before you log off. The story has to change shape for each one, but it can’t lose its meaning. If you can do that, you’ll stay relevant no matter which platform is popping next.
And honestly, you have to be able to keep up. Our industry gets intense, and I won’t lie, I love that. I’ve always believed that where there’s no chaos, there’s no excitement.
The talent is there
5. I would change access. Access to real entry-level roles, and access to the resources and tools young communicators need to grow.
I fell in love with this profession as a little girl, watching Generations with my family. If you know Ezweni Communications, you know exactly what I mean. Dreaming about it was easy, but getting in was a whole different story.
Too many ‘entry-level’ roles ask for three to five years of experience, which closes the door before young people get a chance. How do you get experience if no one gives you a chance? For those who do get in, the gap continues. Media databases, monitoring platforms, design and AI tools, training and industry events often cost more than students, freelancers and people at smaller agencies can afford. The talent is there, but the access often isn’t.
I only got in because someone took a chance on me. Since then, I’ve had people in this industry guide me, and that support has made all the difference. More young people deserve that. A kaleidoscope only creates something new when new pieces are allowed in. That’s why I’d like to see entry-level roles that are truly entry-level, internships that teach, and better shared access to the tools and training that help young people compete. If the door opens a little wider for the people coming after us, the whole industry wins.
