On 05 December 2017, Primestars Marketing, in collaboration with FabLab, The Innovation Hub Schools programme, hosted The Step Up 2 a Start-Up Awards Ceremony at Tsogo Sun Hotel in Arcadia. The FabLab Schools programme, now in its fourth year, works in collaboration with schools in disadvantaged communities around Gauteng to provide learners with access to grassroots training in technology and to encourage a culture of entrepreneurship from an early age.
The event was attended by highly esteemed political officials, Honourable Minister of Small Business and Development, Lindiwe Zulu and Honourable Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe, who encouraged the young influencers and others in attendance to spread the word about Step Up 2 a Start Up and any other initiatives dedicated to growing the business sector in South Africa and capacitating youth through business ownership.
The grade 9 and 11 learners started their challenge to solve societal challenges and began their journey into the world of entrepreneurship through the movie Vukuzenzele, which was screened from 12 August 2017 at 15 Ster-Kinekor cinemas nationwide over a period of five weeks. Each learner received a toolkit which assisted them in applying the skills learned from the educational film, and also assisted them to develop their own business ideas and models.
This year, the Step Up 2 a Start-up programme focused on social entrepreneurship, where learners were asked to find innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social and environmental problems, centred around the concept of Seeking Opportunity, Connecting People and Creating Sustainable Value.
The top participants awarded at the National Youth Entrepreneurship Awards Ceremony will receive prizes such as access to small seed funding, mentorship programmes, incubation, bursaries, cash prizes and other resources to assist them in developing (and sustaining) their business ideas.
1st prize: Education Guide
Fisokuhle Lushaba and Wendy Nkosi are grade 11 students both aged 16 from Pace Secondary School in Soweto. The team are creating better access for matric learners to information on bursaries and loans on tertiary education by creating an app called Education Guide. It allows students to compare universities, sponsorship, tuition, and majors all provided and compared by a single platform, which saves what would be hours of frustration from browsing through a myriad of university sites for expansive information. The app also creates and maintains a database of students which the universities subscribe to and have access to.
2nd prize: Tyres 4 Tiles
Destinee Regan and Sumaiya Lagardien hail from the Eastern Cape and attend Westering High School. They are both only 16 years old and their business involve re-purposing tyres to make roof tiles for low cost houses. This is a true embodiment of social entrepreneurship, as it addresses the lack of waterproofing and insulation in low cost houses/shacks.
3rd Prize: WeRecycle Recycle:
Given Mofomme and Shaun Ngobeni are grade 11 students from Nellmapius Secondary School in Mamelodi, Pretoria aged 19 and 16 respectively. Given and Shaun have started a business that uses a fleet of cargo bicycles to provide households with convenient recycling services for household waste. This service uses specially designed cargo bicycles to collect recyclable waste of people living in densely populated low-income neighbourhoods in their immediate community of Mamelodi.
Hope Rescue
Samoel Hlongwane, Siphesihle Luvuno and Prime Nchabeleng are grade 10 students from Afrikka Tikkun Wings of Life. They have created a dual GPS tracker and panic button in the form of various jewellery made from recycled plastic material. The jewellery item works in conjunction with an app which parents download in order to track their children and combat child abductions.
Scape Goat
Nkosana Maseko, Karabo Tlou and Tshepiso Leema are 16year old grade 10 learners from Orange Farm Secondary School. They have designed a product named ScapeGoat which is a product that regulates fuse box temperatures and slows down current flows after a power cut in order to solve presence of rampant fires in informal settlements. The product also has an alarm that alerts neighbours of smoke and potential danger.
The Farming Network
Shanelle Makobe and Sinesipho Molo are young grade 10 students attending Leap Maths and Science school in Pretoria and are aged 15 and 16 respectively. They have created a recyclable net that collects mulch and has a meter that measures the PH level of the soil. They have an accompanying app that informs farmers about the results of the PH levels in the soil and it also offers a trading and bartering platform for farmers. This innovation would significantly move agriculture into a digital sphere through its innovation.
The Coolest Coalers
Gontse Selaocoe, Galaletsang Mothapo and Rejoice Labase are grade 10 and 11 students aged 18 and 16 respectively from MH Joosub Secondary School in Lenasia. They have created an environmentally friendly form of charcoal, made from naartjie peels, saw dust and dry cow dung. It is completely organic and is as effective as coal but without its associated environmental impacts. The innovation brags of a 70% lower Carbon emission than regular coal.
Fantastic FERTI-COMP
Sanele Buthelezi a 17-year-old student from Kwa-Zulu Natal attending Khombindlela Secondary School. She has created an environmentally friendly fertiliser with the dual purpose of being a pesticide able to both enrich the soil and increase its water retention. It also prevents eutrophication and allergic reactions in people through reducing the amount of artificial fertilisers and pesticides that are used by local farmers.
GuardianAngels
Omphile Sekwele and Didintle Nkambule are grade 10 students from Leap Maths and Science. Their business is a wristband or pendant with an inbuilt panic button, which in the event of perceived danger, sends an emergency SOS signal to a designated list of emergency contacts, parents and police. The band also has a GPS tracker which works to locate the location of the distress call sender. The device is designed to combat the abduction of young girls by enabling them to send distress calls.
The Primestars Trailblazer award
The evening ended with entrepreneurs Sbusiso Leope and Bulelani Blbala winning the Primestars Trailblazer award, which acknowledges their strides as entrepreneurs in achieving greatness in their fields. They embody the true essence of entrepreneurship and giving back to the youth, and it is only a privilege to honour the great example that they are setting for the youth.
