PRISA’s PRISMS Summit & Awards took place last week. The Media Online profiled 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.
1. 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?
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?
3. 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?
4. 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?
5. 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?
PRISMS YOUNG VOICE: Uthandolwethu Khumalo
I believe one of the biggest challenges facing the South African PR and communications industry today is the unemployment of PR graduates. South Africa continues to grapple with high youth unemployment, and aspiring professionals in Public Relations, Marketing and Communications are not exempt from this reality.
The role of a PR practitioner within a corporate environment is often undervalued, with the importance of the profession only becoming apparent during moments of crisis, when crisis management is urgently needed, or when a marketing campaign needs to be executed. This reactive approach overlooks the reality that every industry needs strategic communication throughout its various stages, not only when challenges arise or campaigns need to be launched. Public Relations is essential to building relationships, managing stakeholder expectations, strengthening reputations and sustaining trust. Recognising this value is key to creating more opportunities for PR professionals across industries.
As young professionals, we need the audacity to claim our space in every industry. We must demonstrate our value, communicate our contribution to organisational success and become so effective at what we do that our absence is felt when we are no longer in the room. We must move beyond waiting for opportunities and instead position ourselves as indispensable contributors to the organisations and industries we serve.
The world rewards audacity. We must have the courage to challenge outdated perceptions of our profession, demonstrate its value and take our rightful place at the decision-making table.
Interpretations of reality
Matters such as inequality, social change, political polarisation and declining trust shape South Africa’s communications landscape, and in many ways, they bring the Kaleidoscope: Patterns of Impact Across Past, Present & Future theme into perspective.
People experience and interpret these realities differently, depending on their circumstances, backgrounds and lived experiences. For instance, social change may create opportunities for some while presenting challenges for others. Yet, these different experiences form part of a bigger picture that influences the country’s social and economic landscape.
This is where the responsibility of the communicator becomes crucial. Our role is to shape messages in ways that communicate the truth without imposing a single perspective on diverse audiences. We must create room for different viewpoints to be heard and understood, recognising that people can experience the same issue differently without one reality necessarily cancelling out another.
For the next generation of communicators, this requires ethical storytelling, active listening, inclusivity and a commitment to factual accuracy. We must understand that the power to influence perspectives comes with the responsibility to preserve people’s dignity, communicate with integrity and ensure that the messages we deliver align with the truth.
Ultimately, protecting credibility and reputation is not about controlling how people perceive a situation; it is about earning their trust through honest, responsible and considerate communication. When we acknowledge diverse perspectives without compromising our ethics, we protect the dignity of the people we communicate with, safeguard the reputations of those we represent and preserve our credibility as communication professionals.
AI shouldn’t weaken our capabilities
The biggest opportunity AI presents to young South African communicators is the ability to work more efficiently, meet deadlines more effectively and accelerate campaign execution. When used ethically, AI can be a valuable tool that enhances a communicator’s productivity, supports research and generates ideas. It should complement the communicator’s creativity, critical thinking and strategic input rather than replace them.
However, I believe the biggest ethical risk arises when communicators become overly dependent on AI to create work from beginning to end without applying their own judgement, verifying information or adding a human perspective.
This can compromise accuracy, originality and authenticity, particularly because AI-generated information is not always reliable. It can also strip communication of the human insight, cultural understanding and emotional intelligence required to connect meaningfully with diverse audiences.
As young professionals, we must be careful not to train ourselves out of the very skills that make us valuable. If we consistently outsource our thinking and creativity to AI, we risk weakening our own capabilities and making ourselves increasingly replaceable in the workplace.
Ultimately, AI should be a tool in the communicator’s hands, not the mind behind the communication. Our responsibility is to use it ethically and strategically while preserving the human judgement, creativity and critical thinking that give our work its value.
The audacity muscle
I believe that every communicator needs to develop a muscle of audacity. Audacity gives us the courage to step outside our comfort zones, trust our ideas and take the initiative to bring them to life. In an increasingly competitive industry where the boundaries between public relations, social media, content creation, marketing and journalism continue to overlap, we cannot afford to limit ourselves to what we already know.
We must be willing to explore new approaches, experiment with ideas and confidently demonstrate the value we bring to the industry.
Secondly, remaining relevant over the next five years will require discipline and a commitment to continuous learning. Communicators must equip themselves with the knowledge and skills to use emerging technologies effectively, interpret data, understand digital audiences and adapt their strategies to changing communication trends.
Technology is evolving whether we choose to embrace it or not. Rather than directing our efforts towards resisting this change, we should learn how to use it to improve the quality, efficiency and impact of our work.
Ultimately, I believe the communicators who will remain relevant and influential are those who combine the audacity to innovate with the discipline to keep learning. We must be adaptable enough to evolve with the industry while retaining the creativity, critical thinking and human understanding that distinguish us as communication professionals. We cannot afford to compete against the future; we must equip ourselves to contribute to it.
Digital fluency
If there is one thing I would change about the South African communications industry, it would be the introduction of a structured two-year in-service training programme for young PR and communications graduates.
One of the challenges facing young professionals is gaining entry into an industry that often requires experience before offering the opportunity to acquire it. I believe a structured programme that combines practical experience, mentorship and continuous skills development would help bridge this gap and equip graduates with the tools they need to navigate the industry confidently.
Young professionals bring fresh perspectives, digital fluency, creativity and a willingness to challenge conventional approaches. When these qualities are nurtured through meaningful industry exposure, they can become powerful drivers of innovation and progress.
However, this potential can only be realised if young people are given a genuine opportunity to learn, contribute and grow.
In the spirit of Kaleidoscope: Patterns of Impact Across Past, Present and Future, I believe the future of our profession depends on how intentionally we invest in the next generation. By creating pathways that connect academic knowledge with practical experience, we can build a more inclusive industry that does not merely welcome young talent but actively develops it.
We cannot expect young professionals to shape the future of communications if we do not give them the opportunity to become part of it.
