YES Awards

On 15 October 2025, YES hosted our ESG Awards at the Sandton Convention Centre, in conjunction with the Sustainability and ESG Africa Conference (SEACon). We celebrated partners who have significantly contributed to the ‘S’ in ESG through youth job creation, economic progress, and social development.

Certificates signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa were presented to the Top Job Contributors: Nedbank Ltd, Mercedes-Benz South Africa Ltd, Foschini Retail Group (Pty) Ltd, Shoprite Group, BMW South Africa (Pty) Ltd, and BMW Financial Services (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd.

Awards were also presented to Monocle Solutions, Proconics Holding Company (Pty) Ltd, IQ Business (Pty) Ltd for Employment Equity; The Hollard Insurance Company Ltd and Hollard Life Assurance Company Ltd for Multi-Year Commitment; and Sanlam Life Insurance Ltd for Entrepreneurship & ESD Integration.

YES CEO Ravi Naidoo addressed attendees, recognising that providing youth with quality work experience is the most critical endowment business leaders can make. He commended these ESG champions for building a sustainable and inclusive economic future through youth employment. Naidoo emphasised that integrating initiatives like YES into corporate ESG strategies can drive broader socio-economic change.

The YES team also attended the 2-day event, welcoming conference attendees to our stand to discuss our role in building ESG strategies with measurable results. Ravi Naidoo returned to share his insights on a panel titled “Skills and Certification. Powering the sustainability workforce.” Congratulations to our award winners, and thank you to our partners at SEACon for the opportunity to showcase these exceptional leaders in ESG.