Mandla’s Community Leadership Journey

In the vibrant town of Sasolburg in the Free State, resides an educator, entrepreneur and community activist who is passionate about developing future leaders, Mandla E Xaba a 33-year-old young man who’s…

Dimakatso Makhasane on Defining Leadership and Youth Power

Get to know 2019 Activator! Dimakatso Abigail Makhasane, a dedicated Child and Youth Program Facilitator, youth activist from Gauteng province, she is a founder of the impactful initiative Mentor Me 2, an…

Saldanha Youth Circles Creates A Space For The Change They Wish To See

Bathabile Dyonase, who is a 25-year-old 2025 activator from Saldanha Bay, Western Cape, is a co-founder of Saldanha Youth Circles. Saldanha Youth Circles is a youth-led, community-driven initiative aimed…

From Gymnastics To Social Impact

Raedene’s journey in sport started long before she understood that sport could become a career. She spent 10 years as a high-performance artistic gymnast, representing the Western Cape, and that experience…

How Siyasanga Hohana is investing in the township economy she calls home

South Africa’s township economy has become increasingly recognised as a crucial engine of entrepreneurship, job creation and local economic development. Its market value is estimated at R900 billion,…

How Evelyn’s grief and adversity led her into the taxi business

The transport industry remains largely male-dominated. On the roads, the constant buzz of taxis and non-compliant drivers racing to drop off passengers and earn the day’s wage is a familiar scene. Yet, in the…

The Cost of Silence: Transparency, Power and the Fight Against GBV

It is a grim world women inhabit. Whether she is outspoken or reserved, dressed to impress or simply to exist, someone somewhere will convince himself that her body, her voice, or her peace belongs to him. A…

Yolanda Mogano, Law, Leadership, and The Power of Being Open to Learn

In 2019, while navigating her first year of law school, Yolanda Mogona stepped into the Activate! Change Drivers network. What began as a friend’s referral quickly became a defining chapter in her journey.…

Gauteng 2018 Activate Change Driver Sibongile Mongadi Recognised Among Top Winners at the Hollywood Foundation Gauteng Bambelela Business Awards

Gauteng 2018 Activate Change Driver and technology entrepreneur Sibongile Mongadi has been recognised among the Top 20 winners at the Hollywood Foundation Gauteng Bambelela Business Awards, reaffirming her…

Xolile Mkhabela on Ivota Lakho Eleyi Thulusi and Women's Representation

Xolile Mkhabela, 2024 activator from Ward 20 in Umhlabuyalingana, KwaZulu-Natal.
Mkhabela is a young person whose commitment to community development earned her the confidence of community leaders, who…

Qwabe Leads Through Service and Community Action

Menzi Michael Qwabe, a 2015 activator from KwaZulu-Natal, Umkhanyakude District, Umhlabuyalingana Ward 20. He is contesting in the upcoming local government elections for the first time because his community…

KZN 2019 ACTIVATE! Change Driver Ntwenhle Nkosingiphile Leads Mandela Day House Rebuild & Health Drive in Imbali

This Nelson Mandela Day, youth leadership turned 67 minutes into lasting change in Imbali Unit 18. Ntwenhle Nkosingiphile, a 2019 ACTIVATE! Change Driver from KwaZulu-Natal, spearheaded a dual-impact…

Ramoloti is helping Moruleng's children find purpose through the Arts

For many, royalty exists at a distance, admired from afar. But for a group of young creatives in Moruleng, their songs, poems, paintings and performances echo within the very heart of the Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela…

In Komga, Amanda Dumisa Is Turning Mandela Day Into Everyday Work

The small office in front of her house was not ready yet, so people came inside. Furniture had to share space with wet clothes, hungry bodies, donated bread and the smell of soup being stretched as far as it…

Celebrating Mandela Through AI Creative Challenge

As South Africa and the world prepare to commemorate Nelson Mandela Day on the 18th of July , the Gen AI Africa Podcast is calling on young people to honour the legacy of the father of South Africa’s…

How Emmanuel Prosper Mafuma Turned Farming into a Mission of Social Justice

Every July, South Africans are reminded that Mandela Day is far more than a symbolic date on the calendar. It is an invitation to confront the uncomfortable question of whether acts of service can outlive a…

Beyond 67 Minutes: A 2026 Mandela Month Blueprint for Active Citizenship

July 2026 marks 18 years since Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela’s passing. It also falls three years after the 2024 national and local elections, which brought coalition governments to most municipalities and raised…

Sipho Mnisi: A Commitment to Building Peace and Everything In-Between

Sipho Mnisi is a 2017 Activator, a passionate individual about youth and LGBTIQA leadership, a facilitator, and a former community radio presenter from Soshanguve, Pretoria. His dedication to empowering…

Mpumelelo Bernice Mjekelo: Empowering Youth Voices Through Poetry and Storytelling

Mpumelelo Bernice Mtjekelo is an activator who founded and manages Spoken and Unspoken Word (Pty) Ltd, which is a creative arts company she established in 2019 and is located in Bloemfontein, Free State. Driven…

Thabiso Hendrik Majoe: A Community Builder Committed To Serving Ward 7 Finetown

Thabiso Hendrik Majoe is an activator from Finetown, Gauteng. Majoe is a proven community leader and founder of various community projects that has earned him the trust of his community members in ward 7 as…

Our evolving reality: The becoming of South Africa’s youth demographic

Since the early 2000s, I have been working in the youth sector, and I have benefited as a youth development practitioner and as a young person in South Africa. I came into the youth development sector…

More Than a Game: How Chesterville Basketball Academy is Changing Young Lives

In the heart of Chesterville, where many young people grow up surrounded by social pressures, unemployment, substance abuse, crime, and limited opportunities, one community initiative is using sport to…

The Trauma Parents Choose for Their Children: Is Pain the Price of Raising Resilient Adults?

Every child experiences the world through a unique emotional and psychological lens. What may appear as a minor inconvenience to one child may be deeply distressing to another. Pain is not processed uniformly;…

The Father Behind the Paintbrush: Polelo Huma Challenges Society’s Narrow View of Modern Fatherhood

For generations, fatherhood has been measured through a simple but complicated question: “What does a father provide?” In many communities, especially within the South African context, a father’s worth has…

Yes, We’re Clapping for the Fish for Swimming: The Radical Rise of the Millennial Dad

Every June, South African social media timelines split into two completely different cultural realities. On one side, corporate marketing engines push a polished, commercial version of fatherhood, filled…

Moral Decay in Mzansi: Alcohol and the Dangerous Normalisation of Addiction

South Africa does not merely drink. It glorifies drinking. We are a country where bottles are stitched into celebration, heartbreak, masculinity, grief, birthdays, funerals, and weekends that supposedly “don’t…

Building Futures at Home: The Story of Reolebogile Mohotlheng, Educator in Tlakgameng

For many young graduates from rural South Africa, career success is often equated with relocating to major cities. Reolebogile Mohotlheng,27, is challenging that narrative by applying her skills where they…

From Activism to Action: How Tebogo Motlana is Building a Legacy of Community Leadership

In the heart of Tsakane, where stories of struggle, resilience and hope have shaped generations, one young leader has dedicated his life to ensuring that communities do more than survive, they thrive.…

Building Brain Waves: How Lesego Masethe is Transforming STEM Education in South Africa

Some people spend their lives waiting for opportunities. Others create them. Lesego Masethe has spent much of the last decade doing exactly that. As the founder of Brain Waves Development, a science…

Youth Voices in the Digital Age: Safeguarding Digital Democracy Beyond 1976

Fifty years ago, South African youths took to the streets of Soweto, armed with placards and protest songs, demanding an end to injustice, inequality, and the denial of equal education. Today, a new generation…

Beyond the Memory of 1976: The Meaning of Youth Day in Modern South Africa

Every Youth Day, South Africans are reminded of the courage of the young people who marched in 1976. Their resistance against an unjust education system remains one of the defining moments in our…

Leadership As Service Rooted In Community Impact

Nomsumbuluko Alinah Mazibuko is a 2019 Activator currently serving at the Phumelela Local Municipality, where she has worked as a PR Officer for the past four years. Raised in the Free State, Alinah drew…

Nkonyeni Talks Leadership As A PR Councillor In The COJ

Steven attributes his credibility to continuous learning and staying informed. As he puts it, “you have to research, ask questions, interrogate and analyse. People will always respect hard work and an informed…

Melusi Mahlaba: A Dedicated Servant Leader Committed to the Development of Ward 38 Ethekwini

Even without any positive political role models growing up, Melusi paved his own journey into civic and political leadership. His understanding of governance and public service developed through direct…

Nodali Talks Leadership As A PR Councillor In Umzimvubu

Inga has always been passionate about youth and community development. After experiencing a period of unemployment, he became increasingly aware of the lack of accessible information about government…

The Youth of Tsakane Discover The Power Held by Their X on The Ballot Paper

On 3 June 2026, Sandile Mlangeni (GP Connector) hosted a youth dialogue at Tsakane Library aimed at educating young people about voter registration and electoral processes. The session, supported by the…

Should we question the caliber of leadership South Africa has in the public sector?

If the last three administrations in our country are to go by, we have a leadership crisis in our country. To resolve this the former state President Jacob Zuma called for the setting up of the (2018 – 2022)…

Menstrual Health Month: The Bleeding Crisis

For the last decade the month of May has been universally recognized as Menstrual Health Month. During this period, the global community gathers in various parts of the world to honour Menstrual Health…

Youth of Ntuzuma Debate Democracy and Discover the Power of Their Voice

On 22 May 2026, Ntuzuma A Hall transformed into a hub of civic energy as Activate! Change Drivers hosted a Civic Education and Youth Participation Dialogue and Debate Programme. The aim of the programme was…

What the Constitutional Court’s Asylum Ruling Really Means for South Africa

Last week, South Africa’s Constitutional Court delivered a judgment that immediately reignited national conversations around migration, asylum systems, border control, and the presence of foreign nationals in…

345,000 Jobs Lost as South Africa Celebrates Workers’ Month

South Africa recently celebrated Workers’ Day, as May is recognised as Workers’ Month in the country. Addressing workers at a Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) May Day rally in Polokwane, COSATU…

The Invisible Backbone of Society: Why Mother’s Day Must Also Be a Call for Economic Justice Beyond Flowers and Celebration

Every year, Mother’s Day arrives wrapped in flowers, heartfelt messages, celebratory lunches, and public declarations of love and gratitude for mothers and caregivers. Across the world, women are praised for…

Motherhood  -  Love, Pain and Fulfilment

Every mother has their own story to tell. Motherhood doesn’t come with a manual for us to use or follow. Like rappers on a rap battle, we freestyle our way through, find our own lyrics for a perfect lullaby.…

Workers’ Day and the Politics of Care: How the Van Wyk Judgment is Redefining Equality in the Workplace

In South Africa, Workers’ Day carries an even deeper historical resonance. Under apartheid, labour exploitation was racialised and institutionalised, with black workers subjected to precarious conditions,…