The flag that builds itself

At Christel House South Africa, Adri Marais refuses to let poverty dictate potential. Her “whole-child” model wraps learning in nutrition, health care, and psychosocial support. For two decades, she has built a school where disadvantaged children graduate at rates above 95%, many becoming the first in their families to enter university. Her work is proof that when you meet every need,  children can meet every dream.

Christel House South Africa has consistently achieved matric pass rates far above the national average, often above 95%

Aisha Pandor turned a PhD in genetics into a blueprint for social change. With SweepSouth, she created Africa’s first online platform connecting domestic workers to dignified, flexible work. Today, tens of thousands log on for jobs, insurance, and respect that were once invisible. From a small idea to a multinational company operating across five countries, Pandor’s vision is radical in its simplicity: the digital economy must clean its own conscience even as it cleans homes.

Forbes Africa Woman Entrepreneur of the Year (2023); 50 000 workers connected to employment.

Clay, for Andile Dyalvane, is a medium of memory. From his studio Imiso Ceramics in Cape Town, he shapes vessels that speak the language of Xhosa spirituality — spirals for growth, lines for belonging. Exhibited from Friedman Benda in New York to Southern Guild in Johannesburg, his work is both contemporary sculpture and ancestral offering. Each pot holds not water, but story: a hymn to earth and origin.

Exhibited at Friedman Benda, New York (2018–2024).

From Mthatha skies to orbiting satellites, Andiswa Mlisa has always looked outward. At SANSA, she used Earth-observation data to predict droughts, track forests, and protect harvests. She champions space science for the Global South, showing that stewardship of the planet can be mapped from African ground.

Former Acting CEO of SANSA; Programme Manager for Digital Earth Pacific at the Pacific Community

For two decades, Andrew Zaloumis reshaped iSimangaliso Wetland Park into a living model of how conservation and community prosperity can grow together. Under his leadership, degraded wetlands were restored, wildlife returned, and local residents became partners in tourism, jobs and land stewardship. His work helped transform South Africa’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site into a thriving nature-economy — proof that wild places can protect biodiversity while uplifting people.

Winner of the 2017 KfW–Bernhard Grzimek Prize for global conservation leadership.

Athi-Patra Ruga weaves performance, tapestry, and satire into a radiant subversion of power. Draped in colour and humour, his work queers history — replacing colonial heroes with fabulous, self-invented deities. Whether parading in beaded heels or stitching utopias, Ruga turns art into rebellion and laughter into politics.

Venice Biennale exhibitor; Standard Bank Young Artist Award, 2015.

High in the Cederberg, Barend Salomo helped small farmers turn a fragile inheritance into a protected future. As a leader of the Wupperthal Original Rooibos Co-operative, he stood with Khoi and San communities to secure geographic indication status for rooibos — a shield that keeps value with the people who grew it for generations. Under his care, a herb became a heritage, and a heritage became a livelihood. Each harvest now carries a promise: fairer prices, recognised roots, dignity in every cup.

Rooibos granted EU Geographic Indication protection, 2021.

At Nyamakop Studios, Ben Myres and Cukia Kimani proved that African games could travel the world. Their title Semblance became the first Nintendo Switch game from the continent — a puzzle of malleable worlds and limitless possibility. From a Cape Town garage to global screens, they reframed gaming as storytelling — rooted in African aesthetics, spoken in a universal tongue of play.

First African Nintendo Switch IP; IGF Award Nominee, 2018.

In a country buried under its own consumption, Bevlen Sudhu saw treasure in trash. Through Re-Purpose, he turns discarded plastic into furniture, panels, and playgrounds — designing value from waste and work from want. His social enterprise doesn’t just recycle materials; it recycles chances. Across schools and settlements, the bright colours of his products tell a new story of South Africa’s circular economy: nothing is useless, and everything — and everyone — can be remade.

SAB Foundation Social Innovation Award Winner (2023).

Carole Bloch has spent her life proving that children learn best in the language of their dreams. Through PRAESA and Nal’ibali, she built a culture of reading in isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sesotho, and more — reminding South Africa that every tongue is a treasure. Her advocacy helped shape national literacy policies, but her truest impact is the sparkle in a child’s eyes when a story finally feels like home.

PRAESA won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, 2015.

The Water Wardens Every litre has a story, and Charnte Marthinus and Keenan George listen to them all. As co-founders of SmartView Technology, their digital water-monitoring system helps factories and farms trace every drop, cutting waste by a third. In a province parched by memory of drought, their dashboards are acts of mercy. They teach industry to see water not as input, but inheritance — to measure not consumption, but care.

GCIP-SA, South Africa’s flagship cleantech accelerator: Overall Winner, 2024.

At sixteen, Claire Reid devised a “seed tape” to help her plants grow evenly. Today her company Reel Gardening saves 80 percent of water and empowers novices to plant with confidence. From school gardens to township co-ops, her strips of biodegradable paper carry a message: food security can be engineered.

Ashoka Fellow; SAB Social Innovation Award Winner.