Inspirational Youth in South Africa

Date : 02 June 2017

"The working youth is critical to our future. The economy depends on you. With your hard work and efforts at improving your skills, you can make ours one of the most prosperous nations in the world.” - Nelson Mandela

To celebrate #YouthDay, Eveready will be sharing four stories on inspirational youth in South Africa. As a company, we believe that it is important to engage, inspire and empower our youth in South Africa as the youth of today are the future of tomorrow!

We hope these four stories will inspire other youth to believe in their dreams as everyone can define their own success if they work hard, stay motivated and dream big. With these three ingredients, they will be no limitation to what one can accomplish in life!

4 Inspirational Youth in South Africa

14-Year Old Accepted to Study BSc Physics

Hjalmar Rall, a 14-year old has been accepted to study physics at the University of Pretoria. He will get started on his undergraduate studies later this year and is interested in gaining more knowledge in theoretical physics and astrophysics in order to become a scientist.

Hjalmar was home-schooled at Riebeek Kasteel in the Western Cape and is planning to continue with his studies after completing his BSc degree.

Rall expressed how "As long as it’s not boring, I do it”. He believes that his love and passion are the main driving forces behind his success and he is excited to learn more and ask bigger questions in the future.

Read the full article written byYouth Village.

Innovative Upcycled backpacks

Thato Kgatlhanye is a 23-year old young innovator from South Africa who manufactures schoolbags from recycled plastic bags for disadvantaged learners in the area. The twist behind these recycled backpacks is that that they also double up as a light. The backpacks have been designed to feature a solar panel in the flap which charges as the children walk to school, as well as strips of reflective material for added safety to make children more visible to traffic in the early and late hours of the morning and evening.

Kgatlhanye explains how "This is our home. The reason we started this business is we look at our community and we wanted to do work that matters.” She continues to say how "One of the first obstacles these kids face is not being able to finish their homework.”

Kgatlhanye was the first runner-up at the 2014 Anzhisha Prize, a pan-African award celebrating entrepreneurs aged 15-22 who’ve come up with innovative ways to solve problems in their communities.

Read the full article written by CNN

Youngest Female PhD Graduate

Musawenkosi Saurombe is South Africa’s youngest female PhD graduate who at the age of 23 will graduate with her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in industrial psychology. The prestigious Golden Key International Honour Society based in Tucson, Arizona in the United States, and the ministry of higher education have also confirmed that Musawenkosi will be the youngest woman to be bestowed with a PhD.

Read the full article written by Youth Village.

South Africa’s Youngest Member of Parliament

Hlomela Bucwa is a former NMMU student who was sworn into parliament on 10 November 2016 and is seen as the youngest member of parliament in South Africa at the age of 23-years old.

Bucwa expressed, "I feel very privileged to be here and am also excited to be taking the voice of my constituency – young people – to a national platform.” She continued to say how "Mine has always been to champion youth issues and as a major constituency in our country, I’m humbled to be able to do this in Parliament as well.”

Read the full article written by Youth Village.