Education, empowerment on this week’s Play Your Part TV

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Oyama-Matomela-600At just 19, Oyama Matomela became a qualified commercial pilot, having studied at the highly-acclaimed 43 Air School in Port Alfred (Image: Brand South Africa)

This weekend’s episode of the Play Your Part TV series looks at South Africans who are making their mark in the fields of education and empowerment. They include SHOUT SA, Luvuyo Mandela, Nontsikelelo Qwelane, Oyama Matomela, Sakhile Ngcobo and Stuart Ntlathi. The episode airs on SABC 2 on Sunday, 17 August at 9pm.

SHOUT is a movement that belongs to every South African who is committed and passionate about building a safer South Africa. They market and sell SHOUT merchandise in order to fund projects that will prevent crime and eliminate this scourge from society.

Following the murder of music legend Lucky Dube, musician Danny K and kwaito star – and Play Your Part TV series presenter – Kabelo Mabalane felt that something needed to be done about the high level of violent crime in South Africa. SHOUT was born.

Driven by his passion to change the many social ills plaguing youth in South Africa, basketball fanatic come social entrepreneur, public speaker, mc and Play Your Part ambassador Luvuyo Hlanganani Mandela is working to address these challenges and drive social (re)development.

The Durban born social entrepreneur is combatting these issues on a number of fronts given his previous and current involvement in a range of different organisations focussed on bringing about a positive change in South Africa. Luvuyo, the great-grandson of Nelson Mandela, is also an ambassador for Cheesekids for Humanity.

At just 19, Oyama Matomela was already flying high. Hailing from Port Elizabeth, she is the first female commercial pilot with an instrument rating to qualify through the Eastern Cape department of transport bursary scheme. Matomela gained her qualification from the highly-acclaimed 43 Air School in Port Alfred.

Along the way, she has broken barriers in the male-dominated industry, and is a young example to other women to achieve their dreams.

At the ripe old age of 92, Nontsikelelo Qwelane is the oldest known teacher in South Africa. She was born in Engcobo, in the Eastern Cape, and trained as a teacher. She started teaching at 19 in the government schools of the Eastern Cape, before later moving on to teach in the Western Cape, Gauteng and Mpumalanga.

Sakhile Ngcobo is Playing His Part by empowering South Africa’s economy through his involvement in the diamond business. He is the executive head of external and corporate affairs for De Beers Consolidated Mines, and also serves on the boards of SASA Gold Exploration and the De Beers Fund, and is a non-executive board member of South African Diamonds and Precious Metals Regulator.

He is also chairman of the Moses Kotane Institute, a provincial government in KwaZulu-Natal aimed at growing the local economy through building science, technology, engineering and maths skills.

Stuart Ntlathi, voted one of the Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans in 2013, has had a long love for maths and science. At age 13, he started the Stuart Ntlathi Science and Technology Institute. What was more of a science club at the time became a formal institute when have gave it his full attention after leaving university.

The institute selects ten Grade 10 students from three high schools in the different provinces, and teaches them more about further study and career opportunities available in the fields of science, maths, engineering and information and communications technology (ICT).

Deciding that she didn’t want to stop teaching after her retirement, Qwelane started teaching in private schools. She currently teaches geography to matric students at the Metropolitan International College in White River, Mpumalanga.

The government has given recognition to Qwelane’s dedication by awarding her the Order of the Baobab in Bronze.