Nominate 100 shining stars to honour Mandela and MaSisulu

The City of Ekurhuleni, in partnership with Inside Education, is looking for outstanding young achievers to be part of the 100 Ekurhuleni Shining Stars 2018 programme.

The programme provides an opportunity for young people in Ekurhuleni to reflect on Madiba’s(Nelson Mandela) and MaSisulu’s (Albertina Sisulu) lives and times to promote their legacy. Madiba and Sisulu would have turned 100 this year.

During his tenure, the late and former president Nelson Mandela said: “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”

The nomination of 100 Ekurhuleni Shining Stars 2018 will culminate into a celebratory breakfast on December 7.

The event will honour young Ekurhuleni achievers in various fields, particularly those who contributed to economic growth, community upliftment and job creation, among others.

The under-35s should be talented individuals with great promise in their chosen fields. They must be game-changers and born leaders doing great things to transform their communities.

The Shining Stars 2018 winners will be announced at the breakfast table at Emperors Palace. They will be awarded grand prizes and a scroll citing them as The Ekurhuleni 100 Shining Stars of 2018.

Those nominated should be innovative with the capacity to shape Ekurhuleni’s future and inspire the people who live in the region.

The young achievers should fall into these key categories:

• Education (young nation-builders through education and academia)

• Health (young people doing work in the health sector)

• Justice and law (young people who have done well in the field of law including fighting crime in their communities)

• Arts, culture, media and entertainment (young people using arts as a solution to challenges their communities)

• Science and technology (young tech-savvy innovators in science, ICT, AI and robotics)

• Business and entrepreneurship (young entrepreneurs with solution yielding innovative business ideas)

• Environment (nature preservation and conservation; for example waste management)

• Civil society and youth activism (young community activists in areas such as housing, basic services, land, drug rehabilitation, gender-based violence, inter-faith work)

• Philanthropy (young community workers and nation-builders)

• Politics and governance (young people doing well in politics – ANCYL, DA, UDM, IFP elected leaders – and who are showing incredible talent as future public administrators)

Any person or organisation in Ekurhuleni may nominate a young person who is considered an achiever.

Nomination forms can be obtained and filled in on online platforms – Facebook: Inside Education, Twitter: @Inside_Edu www.insideeducation.org and www.ekurhuleni.gov.za for submission.

Criteria for nominations:

• Residents, workers of Ekurhuleni and youth born in Ekurhuleni but currently residing elsewhere, who are 35 years and under.

• Youths who have made a significant change in their chosen field or in the lives of the people of Ekurhuleni.

• Youths who focus on the needs of developing Ekurhuleni and can show that their work and vision has had an impact on others or the environment.

• Youths who have created structures suited to future-fit commerce and industry

• Youths who have contributed to a sustainable future.

• Young people, who in the words of Mandela ‘are capable, when aroused, of bringing down the towers of oppression and raising the banners of freedom’.

The deadline for nominations is November 26.