Under the warm glow of chandeliers and the undertones of 1920s jazz, POPUP used its annual celebration on Friday, 19 June 2026, to release its Annual Impact Report for the 2025 financial year. Hosted at Silver Lakes Farm Hotel, the event combined a themed gala evening with the presentation of performance data, leadership reflections and forward plans for the organisation’s work with unemployed youth.
Beyond the vintage décor and formal programme, the report itself offered a structured account of POPUP’s performance between January and December 2025, set against South Africa’s persistent youth unemployment crisis. According to Statistics South Africa’s most recent labour data, youth unemployment remains among the highest in the world, highlighting the scale of the challenge facing organisations in this space.
POPUP works primarily with young people aged 18 to 35 who are classified as not in employment, education or training, commonly referred to as NEET.
In his message included in the report, CEO Emile Raubenheimer acknowledges both progress and complexity. “Turning this intent into consistent outcomes, however, is complex and requires discipline and continuous refinement,” he said. “This year reminded us that transformation rarely unfolds in straight lines.”
During 2025, POPUP trained 589 learners, a lower intake than in 2024. Leadership attributes this to a strategic shift toward improving completion and placement outcomes rather than focusing solely on growth in numbers. According to the report, the learner conversion rate strengthened to 65.7%, up from 58% the previous year, while the placement rate increased to 33.6% from 30.9%. In Mr Raubenheimer’s words, “In simple terms, a greater proportion of those who enter our programmes are now moving into meaningful and sustainable work. This is what progress looks like when a system begins to function with greater intent.”
The organisation recorded 198 work placements in 2025, with an average starting salary of R7,658 per month. Using South Africa’s 2025 upper-bound poverty line of R2,846 per person per month, the report notes that placed learners earned on average more than double that threshold. POPUP estimates that each placed learner supports between eight and fourteen dependants, suggesting a wider household impact. The report notes, however, that this broader economic estimate is based in part on modelling and proxy data rather than on full post-placement tracking.
Mr Raubenheimer describes 2025 as “a year of settling and strengthening,” citing the transition to a unified data system, operational stabilisation and continued financial discipline. “However, the most important signals of change were not found internally, but in people,” he writes, pointing to learners who moved from personal setbacks into employment and contribution.
At the same time, the report does not present its work as without constraints. It highlights literacy and numeracy gaps among incoming learners, funding volatility in the non-profit sector and the difficulty of maintaining long-term tracking of graduates. In the entrepreneurship stream, sustainability rates declined in 2025 compared to the previous cohort, prompting a shift toward stronger post-training mentorship and ecosystem partnerships.
Financially, POPUP reported total revenue of R13.7 million for 2025 and an operating surplus of R295,413. Approximately 40% of its income was self-generated through service delivery and fundraising activities, with the remainder sourced from government subsidies and donations. The organisation received an unqualified audit opinion for the year, with no material findings reported.
Looking ahead, leadership sets out three priorities for 2026, strengthening the organisational core, growing internal capability and deepening measurable community impact. “We enter 2026 with quiet confidence,” Mr Raubenheimer said. “Not because the work is complete, but because the direction is clearer than it has ever been.”
As the evening at Silver Lakes concluded, the celebratory tone gave way to a more sober recognition of scale. South Africa’s youth unemployment rate remains structurally high, and POPUP’s 589 trainees represent a small fraction of the broader need. Yet the organisation positions its work as part of a longer-term ecosystem approach, aligning training more closely with confirmed employment opportunities and partnership-driven models.
Whether that approach can be replicated at a larger scale will depend on funding stability, employer demand, and the organisation’s ability to maintain improvements in outcomes while expanding its reach. For now, the 2026 Impact Report presents a picture of measured progress, institutional learning and a stated commitment to refine rather than rush the work of social impact.
