MiDO Academy graduation 2025 cohort. (Image: supplied by MiDO Academy).
Not-for-profit youth empowerment organisation MiDO Academy has developed a strategy – inspired by the Springboks – to bridge the gap between youth labour underutilisation and a critical national shortage of cyber security skills.
The academy, part of the MiDO Group which incorporates the MiDO Foundation, says there is now a commercially incentivised pathway to link a 60.9% youth underutilisation rate (according to Stats SA) with a 56% cyber security skills shortage (according to ResearchGate).
Speaking ahead of the ITWeb Security Summit in Cape Town on 26 May, Dale Simons, CEO of MiDO Academy, argues that just as the Springboks find their “bread and butter” players far from elite academies, MiDO has applied the same logic to address employment and skills issues.
“The traditional recruitment model isn’t working,” says Simons. “Organisations are hunting for five-year experts while 12 281 ransomware attacks hit our borders every month and grow in number by 22% every year. By adopting a strategy focusing on the grit and potential of grassroots talent rather than just elite credentials – at scale – we can build a risk-minimised, immediate-return talent pipeline that defends the economy while taking the unemployment crisis head on.”
Founded by Simons and Anna Collard, SVP of content strategy and CISO advisor at KnowBe4 Africa, MiDO Academy provides a SETA-accredited NQF Level 5 Cybersecurity Analyst programme.
“Research by Michael de Jager at Nelson Mandela University established that 56% of local organisations struggle to recruit cyber security professionals. Putting that figure side-by-side with the staggering Q1 2026 youth (aged 15-24) unemployment rate of 60.9% is shocking,” Simons notes.
MiDO Academy is accredited by the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations as a national Skills Development Provider. This enables MiDO Academy to offer the Occupational Certificate: Cybersecurity Analyst (NQF Level 5) – a first-of-its-kind programme on the national framework, according to the academy, designed to combat SA’s cyber security skills shortage.
“Recruiting talent this way is a uniquely long-term investment in operational sustainability and resilience,” he explains. “We are building a system that feeds our local needs with local talent. Because we focus on the holistic development of the individual, our graduates have a much higher retention and loyalty value for their employers.”
“Compliance is a checklist; resilience is a strategy,” says Simons. “The deeper, big-picture ROI is a pathway out of poverty for a family at the same time as a secured talent pipeline for the business.”
MiDO Academy currently partners with industry leaders across the technology sector and has also served as a provider for the UK government’s Africa Cyber Programme.
“It’s time we stop talking about more technology before we start talking about (and investing in) the people who will actually defend our economy,” Simons concludes.
