From an informal settlement to owing an impressive social entrepreneurship… young South African entrepreneur is inspiring us all.
Wandile Mabanga grew up in Kwa-Thema, a township located on the outskirts of Springs, Ekurhuleni in Gauteng.
His mother left school in Grade 11 and gave birth to him a few weeks before her 19th birthday. The family struggled financially. They lived on his brother’s social grant, which was about R200 at the time, and the income from his father, who fixed TVs.
But Wandile, with a beautiful smile on his face that doesn’t wanna go away, was immensely curious. He did exceptionally well in his studies. In his final year at high school, during a six-week teachers’ strike at his school, he took it upon himself to teach his fellow classmates Mathematics and Science – subjects at which he excelled.
At the end of that year he emerged as one of the top five matriculants in Gauteng, scoring an impressive 100 % for Mathematics and 93 % for Physical Sciences.
“He tells me that he “wishes” he did as well in science as he did in maths! HA!”
He went on to complete an MSc in Physics at Wits, and has taught his discipline both at university and school level thereafter.
By 22, he had already completed an impressive thesis in Quantum Gravity which he tried his best to explain to my liberal arts self, valiantly, but unsuccessfully through no fault of his!
He has won countless awards and entered international maths competitions, and has been one of the rock stars among the many talented young people who are all brilliant at the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation – who has helped him with his journey.
Eusebius Mckaiser featured Mabanga on his show yesterday in our Entrepreneur Corner.
“Not only is he is a super nice guy, and a brilliant academic, he is also now already along his way to an impressive social entrepreneurship journey with a passion for ‘gamifying education’, and he is the founder of Map Blitz, a jigsaw puzzle of Africa, consisting of 50 wooden laser-cut pieces.”
“It is the third game he has invented but the first he is taking to market, having now set up his company. Already the uptake and impact have been impressive in many schools, and he sees it as a global brand, and a serious business vision quite apart from the educational benefits.”
“There was a beautiful moment in our profile interview when, unprompted, his former maths teacher from school called in. And it is just always a tearjerker when a teacher, from an underresourced school and community in particular, can take pride in the excellence of one of her former pupils. He in turn was speechless, and humble, and I had to swallow the knot in my throat.”
“As I said to Wandile, it is callous to romanticise poverty. The lesson here is NOT ‘rise above your poverty’ because no student must overcome such daunting odds. Structural injustices have no place in a fair society.”
“The lesson however is that in between discussing all that gives us sleepless nights about our country it is worth affirming, at the same time, the stories and individuals who can inspire us to not give up.”
“This young man is not dressed in expensive fashion from Dubai and having an inane conversation on a red carpet in front of parliament today. He is busy ‘getting on with it’, and one of the countless unsung heroes in our country.”
“And he is only in his 20s still.”
Check out his product by clicking here and support his product, and reach out to him. Follow him on Twitter @mapblitz or like their Facebook page. Listen to the podcast below. Share it widely.