“To be a great politician, you have to know about the history of your country and the struggles the country has been through.”
Lubabalo Cavendish Ntsizi
As the world celebrates the late great Nelson Mandela's 100th birthday year, young people like Lubabalo Cavendish Ntsizi are building on his legacy. Lubabalo is a grade 11 student at the LEAP Science and Maths School in the Langa township of Cape Town and a future leader of South Africa.
24 years after the end of apartheid, South Africa is still one of the most unequal societies in the world.
More than a third of the people live in need, doing whatever is necessary to survive from day to day with little hope of anything better.
LEAP Science and Maths Schools have developed a unique, self-liberating high school education program for children who live in the most marginalized communities – children like Lubabalo and his fellow students.
During the BMW Foundation Global Table in Cape Town in May 2018, participants from all over the world visited LEAP students in Langa for workshops and discussions about inequalities, leadership and self-empowerment. They experienced first-hand LEAP’s mission: to purposefully lead children like Lubabalo on a journey of learning through which they discover the capacity to take charge of their own lives.
Photo Credit: Claudia Leisinger
Music by: LEAP School Choir
