Tembisan vies for Man of The Year Award

Life 4 U Foundation project founder and community builder, Simon Molekwa’s desire is to see young people in communities being developed and empowered with skills, poverty alleviated and crime at a zero level.

Molekwa is taking part in grooming the youth of Tembisa and Ivory Park with a free computer skill programme and is also promoting toilet hygiene. He believes a life shaped by struggle is not easy to break and a man with a vision is hard to discourage.

“They say it takes a village to raise a child and for a long time we have seen great leaders emerge from poverty and struggle to change and shape our world,” says Molekwa.

Molekwa originally hails from Kathlehong and only came to Tembisa in 1990 to live with his grandmother.

He attended various primary schools due to his parents being moved from one informal settlement to another and completed his Matric at Umqhele Secondary School

“Both my parents arrived in Tembisa after me and stayed together at the View Informal Settlement which used to be Sethokga Section. After completing my Matric, my life became hard because I didn’t have an identity book with which to apply at a tertiary institution, for a bursary or even worse, any job. For a long time, I struggled to register for an ID book.

“In the year 2004 I developed a passion for writing scripts. I wrote many scripts and short films. I approached SABC with the scripts and a very generous lady at SABC saw my potential and referred me to a lady (Cheryl Eatock) at Curious Pictures who was so kind as to motivate and support my vision. She recommended me to the South African Script Writers’ Association.,” said Molekwa.

“At the SASWA I learnt more about scriptwriting and met with prominent authors and actors. With a fully flagged vision and passion for scriptwriting, something happened that changed the course of my life in 2006. During those years I was deep in alcohol, drugs and the bad company of friends.

“The extraordinary thing that changed my life was when I was born again and came to know God. Surprisingly, I thought my life would change, but it did not. I went to church to learn and know more about Christianity, but still I continued living lawlessly and took drugs. What I didn’t know was that something was happening behind the scenes of my life. Suddenly, I had a passion for people and stopped writing,” explains Molekwa.

In 2007, Molekwa started a youth non-profit organisation with friends in Ivory Park, where they focused on the prevention of crime and provided the youth with information on how to apply for learnerships and bursaries.

“During that period I had the opportunity to work with different companies to earn an income and to sustain the project. Luckily the project enabled me to receive the bursary from ETDP Seta after which I decided to study full-time. I took a break from the project and work to focus on furthering my studies because I knew I would be a better leader through education. I always knew that leaders are made, not born. I had to work desperately hard to equip myself with relevant skills in order to become a community developer,” said Molekwa.

Molekwa added he always wanted to become a community developer to fight injustice, poverty and show the love of God to the nation.

After he completed his studies, Molekwa decided to carry on with his community work and registered the Life 4 U Foundation project which provides food parcels to disadvantaged families and widows, supports youth development and promotes toilet hygiene in Tembisa and Ivory Park.

“Most people were very surprised when we started promoting toilet hygiene by cleaning schools toilets for free because people don’t normally respect or prioritise the cleanliness of their toilets. Imagine a world without a toilet or a toilet which has not been cleaned for a week or month.

“Our organisation works closely with My Hands and Heart to promote volunteering. This encourages the youth to build their communities. We host events and workshops annually to develop our youth and children. The most noticeable thing about our organisation is our widows and orphans project whereby we assist widows and orphans with food parcels on a quarterly basis,” added Molekwa.

Molekwa emphasised that starting a project or business is never easy as it requires persistence, hard work and motivation.

“I am encouraging people to pursue their dreams and never to look back or relax thinking miracles will bring success. Only hard work, persistence and faith keep one going.

“Elderly people at home should support their grandchildren with the very last cent. They should continue to take care of that child until she or he makes it. Our country is a land of opportunities and people must not be afraid to take a leap of faith. Selling tomatoes, cabbages and sweets on the street was never a disgrace but is entrepreneurship at its best.”

“As a young person with a vision, I stopped following a bad crowd and accepted the challenges of life. And then I allowed discipline, confidence and sensitivity to take centre stage in my life. I refrained from taking alcohol, drugs and crime,” said Molekwa.

Molekwa confirmed his greatest achievement this year was to receive a certificate for completing the Young African Leader’s Initiative programme and assisting with the launch of the Tembisa Men’s Forum.

He has entered the South African Men of the Year Awards and he is appealing to the community to vote for him.

The closing date for voting is on October 15 and SMSes cost R2.

Those willing to vote for Mr Molekwa can SMS “Youth-GP-Simon Molekwa” to 34818 or “ComDev-GP-Simon Molekwa” to 34818.