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As South Africa’s netball team, SPAR Proteas, takes on the rest of the world at the Netball World Cup 2023 (NWC2023), the players have encouraged fans to work hard if they want to follow in their footsteps.

Captain of SPAR Proteas Bongiwe Msomi (34) said hard work is the key to success.  “When some of the kids say ‘I want to be like you one day’, I always say: ‘You can even do better’.  “It is hard work to play and constantly be at your best,” she said.

Having escaped an abusive relationship that almost landed her in a prison cell, Nthabiseng Mmina, from Mokopane in Limpopo, is now helping other women in similar situations.

In 2017, Mmina had to endure gender-based violence (GBV) at the hands of her then partner.

As the country prepares to host the first ever Netball World Cup (NWC2023) in Africa from 28 July to 6 August 2023, it is all systems go for South Africa’s netball team, the SPAR Proteas.

When the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) conducted a workshop in the Mpofana Local Municipality, in KwaZulu-Natal in 2019 to encourage young people to start household gardens in their communities, a group of five friends decided to start a cooperative after the training.

Abalimi Multipurpose Primary Cooperative is currently farming four of 12 hectares of land zoned for agriculture, which they are leasing from local community members.

While the floods that battered large parts of KwaZulu-Natal in 2022 caused damage amounting to billions of rands and claimed lives, the event also opened the doors of opportunity for a despondent young man. 

In just over a year after those fateful events, the 34-year-old went from being unemployed for over five years to producing decorative furniture for one of the country’s leading retailers.

The government has resolved to adopt a two-step approach in implementing the analogue switch-off as part of the Broadcast Digital Migration programme. 

Boikano Sikwane (46) believes that it is important for South Africans to buy locally produced goods so that more jobs can be created and the economy can improve.

Sikwane is the owner of Chuck Chilli, a proudly South African company that produces a chilli condiment sold throughout the country.

From humble beginnings in her garage, Sikwane’s company now has 12 employees who work at the company factory three times a week.

“In a country where unemployment is so high, I wish that people could understand that by choosing a local product, we could save and make jobs.”

A Soweto-born University of Mpumalanga student’s journey to entrepreneurship is well on course, thanks to a comprehensive cellphone repair programme that is already helping him earn a living while getting through his studies. 

Khumbulane Phakathi (20) is one of the 149 beneficiaries of the National Electronic Media Institute of South Africa’s (NEMISA) Cell Phone Repairs Training Programme.