soweto

Like many entrepreneurs, Maite Makgoba had to overcome a lot of challenges to get her plastic princess on to the market. Now she can brag on social media when stars such as Nicki Minaj compliment this particular product.

It is a day violently etched on the South African collective conscience. Commemorated over 30 years later as Youth Day, an official holiday, it is the day that honours the deaths of hundreds of Soweto schoolchildren, a day that changed the course of the country's history: 16 June 1976.

Sixty years ago the Congress of the People gathered on a dusty field in Kliptown to draft the document that would lead South Africa to liberation. The Freedom Charter is the foundation for South Africa's Constitution and its demands are as relevant now as they were in 1955.

A free facility to treat drug and alcohol addiction has opened in Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, where people - mostly from southern Joburg - who cannot afford private treatment will get the help and tools they need to turn around their lives and make a positive contribution to society.

On 21 February 1917, the SS Mendi troopship carrying more than 800 black South African men sank off the Isle of Wight in the British Channel. The bravery of the men as they stared death in the face is portrayed on staged at the Soweto Theatre.

Dreaming big, Richard Maponya started out small selling clothing offcuts. Today he owns Maponya Group, with interests in property, retail, horseracing and vehicle sales. The determined entrepreneur also opened Soweto's first major shopping centre, Maponya Mall, in 2007.

Dreaming big, Richard Maponya started out small selling clothing offcuts. Today he owns Maponya Group, with interests in property, retail, horseracing and vehicle sales. The determined entrepreneur also opened Soweto's first major shopping centre, Maponya Mall, in 2007.

Basketball opened up the world for Jerome Du Plooy, and now he is using what he has learned and earned to help other children out of a world of poverty and deprivation in the south of Joburg.

Basketball opened up the world for Jerome Du Plooy, and now he is using what he has learned and earned to help other children out of a world of poverty and deprivation in the south of Joburg. Slim Cares helps to feed and clothe youngsters, and gives them hope that there is a path out of poverty.

The fourth episode of Brand South Africa's Play Your Part television series, which airs on SABC 2 on Sunday 6 July at 9pm, will feature a some inspiring South Africans who Play their Part in the areas of active citizenship and education.