Lead the Wave

Mishka Reddy is a young lady with a creative itch, which brought her vision to reality during the lockdown in 2020. She is a fashion designer and the creator of Dayanthani, a clothing brand named after her mother whom she considers her greatest inspiration.

Kaylah Boyce is a first-time author, her debut collection of poetry, titled "The Exposition" explores issues of growth, self-love, empowerment and healing through personal and painful transitional experiences. Her passion and interest towards poetry began in high school and since then, she has earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and media cultural studies, in addition to that, an Honours in English literature studies from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. In her spare time, Kaylah enjoys crafting, writing blogs and volunteering as a social media content writer at a non-profit organization in her home town, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

Sarvdasha Sewlal is a 27 year old lady aspiring in the innovative field of engineering. Obtaining her BSc Degree in Civil Engineering in 2016 at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. She is currently employed as an engineer in the structural department of Transnet Port Terminals. She is actively involved in structural designs, drawings, condition assessments as well as site investigations.  Besides being crowned Miss India Northern KZN 2018, Sarvdasha has also authored an award winning poetry anthology called Yellow Roses, which launched on the 12th of December 2020. She has been awarded Best Female English Poet 2021 by the Book Behind Awards.

Nasirah Kathrada is a spoken word poet and human rights activist from Johannesburg, South Africa. Nasirah is the author of a book that advocates for children’s rights and is now an International Children's Peace Prize nominee.

Rešoketšwe waa'Manenzhe is a South African villager and storyteller. Her short stories and poems have appeared in the Kalahari Review, Fireside Fiction, Lolwe, FIYAH, and the 2017 Sol Plaatjie European Union Anthology, among others. She has won the 2019 Writivism Short Story Prize, the 2020 Dinaane Debut Fiction Award, the 2021 Akuko Short Story Competition, the 2021 HSS Award for Best Fiction, and she was the first runner-up for the 2019 Collins Elesiro Prize for Fiction. She has been shortlisted for the Sunday Times Literary Awards and the South African Literary Awards. If you happen to meet her, please ask her about her debut novel from Jacana Media. It’s called Scatterlings, and she’s sure you’ll love it. But please, also talk to her about the endangered wild fruit Balobedu children once enjoyed in summer.

Joastin Naidoo, 24, was born and raised in Chatsworth, Durban. Joastin holds a Masters in Medical Science degree majoring in Anatomy, and is currently employed as a Lecturer of Human Anatomy at the Nelson Mandela University Medical School in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth). An avid fan of literature, Joastin has been dabbling in writing for several years which culminated in his debut self-published poetry anthology titled 'Soliloquy.'.

Katishcka Kiara is a young and talented South African actress with a role in season 2 of the Netflix series, Blood and Water.

Zainab Gaffoor is a poet and literary honours student at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her debut collection, On Love and Loss: A collection of poems in two universal languages, surfs the experiences of a character who relates the extremes of the feelings of love and loss in a romantic setting. She first began sharing on social platforms, such as Instagram and Tumblr, and then migrated to the official literary world of published poetry. Her book is available through Amazon in paperback and kindle at this link: https://www.amazon.com/Love-Loss-collection-universal-languages/dp/B09CC64FLX/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Roemello Shembe and Sonti Alpheus Lebopa are young entrepreneurs who built clothing brands as a stand against gangs. OMW Manaba by Sonti is a brand built to set you free, it empowers you to conquer hate and overrule bullies. Sonti wants to become a teacher to help youth when they are most vulnerable and encourage them to find their greatness. AntiGang by Roemello is the brand of the new nation for people with vision, people of action and people with class. Roemello aims to develop a clothing line where he can employ people suffering under gender-based violence or reform themselves as offenders and move the country forward. He wishes to be part of the solution and is excited to collaborate with like-minded people.

Irfaan Mangera is the youth activism programme manager at the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, he is also an intersectional community and youth activist, human rights educator and youth development worker.