Vuma My Community Connects helps young South Africans turn their passion into paydays
South African communities have powerful and beautiful stories to share, and Vuma is committed to shining the spotlight on them to give them the springboard they need to grow and inspire others to create and innovate.
In addition to working continuously towards expanding the reach of our fibre internet, Vuma established the My Community Connects (MCC) platform to achieve this,, bringing to the fore some incredible talents. Katlego Maaroganye, for instance, established Hi-Source – a platform that aims to connect parents in search of before and after-school transport to vetted, trustworthy drivers in their areas. “I wanted to bring peace of mind and transparency to the transport business and came up with the idea for the Hi-Source platform from this, where parents can view and select drivers, who have already been vetted to ensure they don’t have criminal backgrounds.”
Similarly, Akido Malabela established Malabela Photography after overcoming many obstacles to get to where he is. “I was rejected seven times at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) before I finally got in. It wasn’t because I didn’t meet the minimum requirements to get into university, but because of a lack of access to the right information and understanding how the processes work.” Akido also recognised a need among other young people who were experiencing the same challenges in applying to attend university, inspiring him to start Help a Student, an NPO dedicated to assisting young people with the administrative elements involved in applying to attend university.
To date, Help a Student has assisted over 800 students to enter university. For both Katlego and Akido, having access to a reliable internet connection such as uncapped fibre was vital in finding out about the MCC programme and other opportunities to expand their reach, and this is the main reason why Vuma is so committed to expanding the reach of our fibre coverage across more neighbourhoods and communities in South Africa.
Our My Community Connects ambassador and mentor, Jimmy Nevis, says, “Katlego is tackling a head-on crisis in our communities – safety - and that should definitely be commended and supported. Akido is an amazing example of a young South African who did not give up on his education, and he is now paying forward the life-changing lessons he learned through his journey. These guys have me so inspired, I can’t wait to see how their businesses grow.”