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40 South Africans Under 40 Part 4

1 July 2016

Forty years ago South African youth influenced the way today's young South Africans wield their own historical impact on the country.

In this series of profiles, we highlight 40 South Africans born since 1976 who have changed South Africa, or even the world in their own unique way through politics, culture, business, sport and public service.

Itumeleng Khune – football player

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The safest hands in South Africa, Khune is a stalwart of the Bafana Bafana football team for over 10 years, and currently its captain. Khune began his sporting career as a school cricketer, but inspired by his father's amateur football career and a desire to earn a living for his family, he started playing professional football, first as a defender with the Kaizer Chiefs junior league and then later as goalkeeper. He became Bafana Bafana's first-choice keeper in 2008, competing in the African Cup Nations, Confederations Cup and the 2010 World Cup. He became the national team's captain in 2013. He has won numerous awards as both national player and Chiefs fixture, including Premier Soccer League's Footballer of the Year and the SA Sportsman of the Year, both in 2013. When not defending between the posts for Chiefs and his country, he spends time nurturing the next generation of South African football stars teaching the fine art of goalkeeping.

Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng – medical doctor

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As a general practitioner Mofokeng has always made it her primary mission to communicate and champion accurate and vital medical information, particularly on reproductive and sexual health. Through her popular Kaya FM radio show, in her forthright yet quirky style, she gets to do that on a larger scale. She encourages thousands of listeners to challenge rape culture, engender respect for patients among health practitioners and raise awareness of women’s health issues and sexual violence. Mofokeng also raises awareness via her social media platforms and on local and international television and runs a successful women’s health practice in Johannesburg. She is also vice-chairperson of the Sexual and Reproductive Justice Coalition. "My end goal as a doctor is to ensure there are places where people can have their bodily integrity respected," Mofokeng told the Mail & Guardian this year, believing that it starts with information and support, "in communities where there is support at every level, people tend to speak out more, because they know they are not alone. Without knowledge and support, people tend to remain silent, for fear of being shamed and victimised."

Kyle Louw – poet and culture commentator

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A former IT specialist who discovered the art and power of spoken word performance as a way to express his creativity, Louw is one of South Africa's leading poets. His "witty and entertaining, but intelligent and disturbingly shrewd" performances have inspired a resurgence in this largely underground art form. His poetry tackles a number of contemporary challenges, things like racism, overwhelming internet culture and social politics. Louw has won various local and international spoken word competitions including InZync, Poetica and the Open Book Festival, and has spoken at a Tedx Cape Town event. He is also the rhyming voice that welcomes travellers at Cape Town International Airport, as part of the city's tourism campaign. In a world where the art of spoken word and rap can sometimes be full of bravado and artifice, Louw's rhymes are thought-provoking and inventive. According to a critic writing for London's Roundhouse Theatre during his performance there in 2015, "Louw has the ability to address each audience member individually allowing them to take whatever it is they need from his words which in turn transports listeners outside of their norm. When he speaks people stop and listen."

Ludwick Marishane – inventor and entrepreneur

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Marishane invented the "Dry Bath", a revolutionary waterless sanitation system that is widely used in impoverished areas. The invention earned him global recognition, and in 2013, Time magazine named him as one of the top 30 people under 30 who are changing the world. Google also placed him as one of the 12 brightest minds in the world. Marishane used the success of the "Dry Bath" to start his own innovation hub, Headboy Industries, that focuses on ideas and inventions that add value to people's lives. The hub also offers financing and training for young black entrepreneurs. An admirer of innovators like Elon Musk, Marishane doesn’t want to be known just as the "Dry Bath" guy, and is always to looking for new challenges and new ways to change the world. He feels social capital, like networking and creating an impactful word-of-mouth, is essential to finding success in business and innovation. There is a lot of money available to innovators with good products, but they just have to make the right noises.

DJ Qness - musician

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Qness, whose real name is Qhubani Ndlovu, is one of South Africa's premier house and EDM artists, globally recognised for his slick production and innovative music business savvy. At 17, he built his first recording studio and released his first album On Cue Volume 1 in 2009 which sold over 20 000 copies, thanks to the infectious melodies like Fugama Unamathe and Uzongilinda. He later used this clout to record with established artists like Simpiwe Dana and Zamajobe. Qness established himself and his music as a popular crossover genre, enjoying success on both national pop radio as well as more underground house music community. His street cred so solid that he was selected by American hip-hop star Dr Dre as the South African spokesperson for the Beats by Dre audio products. Qness tours extensively around the country and the rest of the world, bringing uplifting melodic Mzanzi sound to some of the top electronic festivals in Europe and the US.

Siyabulela Xuza – rocket scientist

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Xuza had always had his head in the stars as a child in the Eastern Cape, and was determined to make his mark both the world of science and the universe. He built his first fuel-efficient rocket on his mother's kitchen table, and it won him the National Science Expo top prize and later, a gold medal at the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair. So impressed with his new take on developing solid, reusable rocket technology, the US Nasa organisation named a newly-discovered minor planet in the Jupiter asteroid best after him: 23182 Siyaxuza. Xuza is a firm believer that hard work and not just brains is key to success, telling University of the Free State graduates at a ceremony in 2014 that "[my achievements] are not because I am smart, but because I never gave up". He currently sits on the Africa 2.0 Energy Advisory Panel, a pan-African organisation of the continent's brightest minds committed to seeking sustainable energy solutions. He is also furthering his research at Harvard University developing new energy technology for the good of the planet.

Jonathan Liebesman – Hollywood director

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Liebesman is currently one of the most sought after action directors in Hollywood, having proven his talent in big budget blockbusters like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie in 2014 and the sleeper action hit Battle: Los Angeles in 2011. Liebesman is a graduate of the highly esteemed AFDA film school in Johannesburg and cut his teeth in filmmaking specialising in short film. After spending years on the US independent film festival circuit, showcasing his self-financed films, he drew the attention of Hollywood action auteur Michael Bay who recruited him to helm a number of Bay's production company's smaller films, including a remake of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre cult classic. Liebesman still describes himself as proudly South African despite his international success and hopes to write and film South African stories for the global market as his career matures.

Rebecca Davis - journalist

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Davis is a journalist, columnist and social media commentator with a flair for concise, constructive and often humourous observations on South African politics and pop culture. She has written for the Daily Maverick website, the Mail & Guardian and the Sunday Times. Davis has also worked in radio, written for satirical TV show ZA News and is a published author. She is an ardent defender of women's and LGBTI rights. Her Twitter presence, with over 33 000 followers can be best described as Liz Lemon meets Hunter Thompson: irreverent, clever, confrontational but always sincere, whether she's covering parliament, watching television or fighting injustice. She is an essential read for every South African.

Athandiwe Saba – data journalist

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Former City Press editor Ferial Haffajee describes colleague Saba as a "digital data guru" and one of the few South African journalists constructively using data to tell compelling stories. Saba herself calls data journalism an invaluable tool for media in the 21st century, when using facts and figures make the difference between a bad story and a trusted one. Saba was part of the team that won the CNN African Journalism of the Year award for deciphering the logistical paper trails behind the Marikana tragedy in 2012. Saba works closely with young journalism students in using data to enhance investigative reporting beyond hearsay and unreliable sources.

Terry Pheto – actress

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Pheto shot to fame in the 2005 Oscar-winning Tsotsi, having never acted in film and television before. She has since gone on to become one of South Africa's most sought after actresses locally and internationally. Pheto has leading roles in Mandela: A Long Walk to Freedom and the South Africa crime drama How to Steal 2-Million, for which she won a Best Supporting Actress award at the 2012 African Movie Academy Awards. In addition to her TV work in local dramas Hopeville and Jacob's Cross, she landed a significant role in US daytime drama The Bold and the Beautiful in 2011. In between work in theatre and being the South African face for L'Oreal, and extensive charity work, Pheto will next feature in the big budget UK production film on the life of Botswana's first democratic president Seretse Khama, titled A United Kingdom.

Source: Mail & Guardian Young 200 South Africans, Wikipedia, South African History Online and other online sources