MISA A blanket provides warmth, but Brian dreams of a job
31 August 2026
For Immediate Release
As MISA, the Motor Industry Staff Association, brings its annual Winter Blanket Drive to a close, one encounter on the streets of Pretoria serves as a powerful reminder that behind South Africa’s unemployment statistics are real people with families, dreams and a desperate desire to work.
Brian Phahlane (30) was warming himself beside a fire in the Pretoria CBD this morning when Sonja Carstens, Manager of MISA’s Media and Communication Department, gave him two blankets.
Brian is part of a generation facing an unemployment crisis. South Africa’s youth unemployment rate increased to 62.8% in the second quarter of 2026, according to Statistics South Africa.
“I have been searching for a job for three years, but there is nothing. I can only pray that someone will give me a break. I am a hard worker,” Brian says.
He has two children, aged seven and 11, whom he desperately wants to provide for. Back home in Mamelodi, he says his friends are also unemployed.
Brian has previous work experience as a toll booth collector and general worker. Without money to travel between Mamelodi and Pretoria every day, surviving on the streets has become his reality while he searches for an opportunity.
“Life on the street is difficult, especially in winter. But I have no choice because I don’t have the money to travel from Mamelodi and back every day.”
Yet Brian has not stopped dreaming.
“I dream of one day having my own business and employing many people.”
This winter, MISA distributed more than 1 000 blankets to homeless and vulnerable people as part of the Union’s commitment to uplifting the communities in which our more than 80 000 valued members live and work.
“As our Winter Blanket Drive ends, the need does not. South Africa needs sustainable economic growth, investment and, above all, jobs that restore dignity and allow people like Brian to provide for their families and build a future. A blanket can help someone through a cold night. A job can change a life,” says Martlé Keyter, MISA’s Chief Executive Officer: Operations.
Issued by Sonja Carstens, Manager: MISA Media & Communication Department, on behalf of the Union.
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