UKZN students make 2022 Top Young South Africans list

The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) applauds and congratulates four students and an alumnus of the university who have made it onto the Mail & Guardian 2022 Top Young South Africans list.

Nchafatso Pitso, Anne Chisa, Nomali Ngobese, Samantha Nicholson, and Mohamed Suleman were named among the 2022 Top Young South Africans.

The Mail & Guardian’s flagship feature of eminent young South Africans is a prestigious initiative that serves to recognise future leaders.

Mail & Guardian editor-in-chief, Ron Derby said that for this year’s installment they looked for innovators and creators of viable and non-conventional solutions through convergence with technology, who are helping to create an equitable future.

Executive Director of Corporate Relations at UKZN, Normah Zondo said the university management is proud of the selected five who are making an impact in their respective fields of study.

“We celebrate their accomplishments and support them as they continue to inspire greatness,” said Zondo.

Nchafatso Pitso (30) is a PhD candidate in Industrial, Organisational, and Labour Studies at UKZN, focusing on state capture in South Africa. Her research looks at the issue through the lenses of corruption and the shadow state and examines the efficacy of the Zondo Commission.

Pitso was the youngest managing director at 20 Elevation Construction and Landscaping, a construction, waste management and logistics company.

Anne Chisa (27) is a PhD student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, a science communicator, and host of The Root of the Science podcasts which aim to amplify the voices of Africans in science, and technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields across the globe.

“I want to shift the stereotypes that scientists are white old men in lab coats,” she said.

UKZN alumnus, Nomali Ngobese (35) combines her expertise in indigenous plants with her interest in social development. She is known for her work in food security, highlighting underutilised crops to alleviate hunger and boost economic development in rural communities.

Samantha Nicholson (32) heads up the African Lion Database, a conservation project that collects and analyses key data on the species to inform conservation-related decision-making.

By creating a repository of reliable information, the database aims to bolster the capacity of governments and organisations to assess the impacts of their interventions.

Through her team’s efforts, she hopes to see South Africa acknowledged as a leader in lion conservation.

Mohamed Hoosen Suleman (25) is an undergraduate medical student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine. He is an inspiring medical student whose research is rewarded by the World Health Organisation. Suleman aims to use his research findings to contribute to a South Africa where each person adopts a spirit of Ubuntu and togetherness.

Suleman is involved in social welfare-oriented academic research in hair loss and HIV susceptibility in women of African ethnicity.

He was one of only three medical students selected globally for the prestigious Changemaker Scholarship to attend the Pre-World Health Assembly and World Health Assembly held at the World Health Organization (WHO) Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and also formed part of the official youth delegation to the WHO in May 2022.

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