Groutville’s space-tech student writes children’s book, ‘Mangwe The Space Boy’
Thabani Mazibuko, a doctorate student in space technology for sustainable tourism development, has a passion to expose people from townships and rural areas to a subject he believes people know little to nothing about.
A lifelong fascination with outer space prompted a Thembeni, Groutville resident to write a children’s book that is gaining attention across the country.
Thabani Mazibuko, a doctorate student in space technology for sustainable tourism development, has a passion to expose people from townships and rural areas to a subject he believes people know little to nothing about.
He has been invited to schools, television shows and news channels to talk about space technology and his book: Mangwe The Space Boy.
‘Space Technology’ is defined as technology designed for travelling beyond the Earth’s atmosphere.
The story details the adventures of Mangwe, a simple herd boy who becomes an astronaut.
The 37-year-old father of 2 named the book after his one-year-old son, Mangwe and based the story on his own childhood.
Mazibuko grew up in rural Ulundi, where he herded his village’s livestock.
“With my friends, we used to read and use cow dung sticks and clay soil to design airplanes, space rockets and even cows. I had a passion for drawing the Earth and planets.”
But it was many years later traveling internationally and visiting the science museum in India (Hi-Tech City) in Bangalore that inspired him to reach for his dream.
Today he is the chairperson and founder of the South Africa Space Technology for Sustainable Development Foundation (SASTSDF).
The foundation, he said, focuses on promoting innovations through artificial intelligence, nano-satellites and space sciences as a solution to several challenges facing society in sectors like health, tourism, agriculture and water purification.
For example, using satellite communication and remote sensing data, scientists are able to find underground water sources on Earth.
His organisation was a finalist in the Earth Observation’s African Space-tech challenge 2020.
ALSO READ: Turn your eyes to the wonder of the African night sky
The competition aims to develop the African space industry, especially the downstream sector, by empowering innovators, entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses in the space-tech sector.
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