Ngwenya strives to make a big difference in the community

Five years ago, Nceba Ngwenya (20) from Leondale would have strongly disagreed if you told him that he would be among the people who will bring change to the lives of many hopeless township residents in the Ekurhuleni region.

Ngwenya is the former president of the School Representative Council at Leondale High School (LHS), the current president of the Ekurhuleni Parliament and a social and anti-drug activist.

He emerged from an appalling situation and turned the unpleasant and regrettable moments into gold.
He was among a group of learners who appeared in a video that went viral on social media of learners smoking dagga.

The then 19-year-old took a step back to reflect on his actions after being punished and facing suspension, along with his schoolmates.

“I made a decision to change my life for the better. I joined an NPO that assists drug addicts, where I volunteered,” shared Ngwenya.

“I started support groups at educational institutions because I realised that people do not just consume drugs because they want to, there is an influence behind that and most of the time it is because they feel stressed and they use drugs as a scapegoat.”

Ngwenya said that this is when he, unfortunately, started becoming popular in his surroundings because of television media interviews.

“For me, it has never been about me being popular, it was always about making an impact in my community.”

He said he was appointed as the president of the Ekurhuleni Parliament (EP) in late February. EP is a non-profit company formed by concerned residents of Ekurhuleni to address social challenges affecting various communities within the region.

The executive members of EP are secretary-general Phiwane Moore, deputy secretary-general Zanele Shandu, coordinator Mpho Tholakae, policy adviser Ntombi Sibisi, treasurer Kagiso Collen and deputy treasurer Happiness Seheshe.

Ngwenya said that although the formation and movement of EP already existed, it was not registered and it had minor setbacks in terms of numbers and active members.

“The current secretary general of EP saw my page on Instagram, acknowledging my work, and offered me the opportunity to lead EP as the president.

“I was at a point where I felt trapped. I wanted to go to university but I did not have the funds. I applied to the military, of which I should be going for psychiatric and psychological tests in August before I can get the approval to serve in the military and further my studies.”

EP was formerly registered as a non-profit company shortly after he was appointed president in February.

According to Ngwenya, EP has spear-headed programs that assist orphans to obtain their birth certificates and identity documentation because getting an ID when you are an orphan is challenging as the process requires parents.

“Imagine a child who does not have both parents and lives with their aunt. It becomes a struggle especially if the child is not legally adopted.”

He noted that EP is a team effort and they are working on getting funding to buy land and the function of that land will be to create employment and solve the food security problem.

“We buy the land and give opportunities to unemployed youth to work on the land, which is skills development in terms of agriculture and solving the food insecurity problems we have.”

Ngwenya said the greatest thing that they want to archive is for communities to start leading themselves.

“We are tired of politicians promising to give people food parcels and skills but they never deliver, hence you see our communities in a dilapidating state.

“It is very rare to find all traffic and street lights working in the township and there is an influx of crime. When you call the police the response time is slow.”

As part of addressing crime, EP has launched patrol teams in various communities whereby community members volunteer to safeguard their areas.

Ngwenya represented SA at the Best Diplomats conference in Thailand between April 28 and May 1.
Best Diplomats is a New York-based Diplomatic Conference Organiser which serves as a platform to help train young leaders of tomorrow.

“We were dealing with the issue of human trafficking, passing resolutions and looking for solutions because human trafficking is the greatest problem we have globally,” said Ngwenya.

He noted that Thailand has the highest rate of human trafficking.

“One of the solutions I presented is that we need to increase military visibility across borders and digitalise people’s identification. When a person leaves the border we check who they are and the people they are travelling with, and then the information will pop up on the system.

“In our public spaces let us have satellite camera’s so that we can be consistent and take charge of whatever is happening. If someone disappears in a square mile we will know because we can go back and check,” he explained.

He said they also got an opportunity to negotiate and engage with the proposed resolutions.

Ngwenya was one of the best negotiators at the conference. He was awarded a certificate for outstanding negotiation and leadership skills during the Diplomatic Simulation at Best Diplomats Thailand.

“I was able to bring 51 countries to my table to be able to pass the resolution hence I got a certificate.”

Future plans

He said since his return to the country he has been trying to get funding to get land to deal with the unemployment issues.

He said they are also working on programmes whereby they intend to visit schools around the Ekurhuleni district to find out what their needs are and assist where possible.

Ngwenya aspires to lead the SA government as its president.

“In my first few videos, you would always hear me saying I am the future president of SA. I do not see that as a probability of outcome but I see it as a fact.

“The plan as we advance is to be deliberate in making change and making an impact. Because is it easy to speak, we need people who are actually making a difference,” he said.

He said at the moment EP is still struggling with funding.

Kathorus residents who wish to donate can email EP at Ekurhuleniparliament@gmail.com.