Twelve young people have earned a welcome ‘Christmas bonus’ this December; winning the Progress SA #YourFreedomYourFuture Competition. Learners and students aged between 14 to 30 years old were invited to enter, by submitting an essay or a short video exploring the topic ‘Your Freedom. Your Future – Is South Africa at a fork in the road and which road should we take?’
The #YourFreedomYourFuture Youth Competition was hosted by democratic youth organisation Progress SA, with the support of the Frederich Naumann Foundation for Freedom and Van Schaik Bookstores. The intention was to encourage young people to think and engage in political debate.
Entries were received from all over South Africa, although some tertiary institutions chose not to invite their students to enter. The University of the Witwatersrand was one of the few tertiary institutions that did.
A total of 178 entries were received. “The quality of the submissions varied tremendously but each one brought a unique perspective on freedom. This is exactly what we hoped for, a plurality of views, as diversity of thought is something we firmly believe in,” said Duwayne Esau, the project manager for Progress SA. “The entries made it clear that most young people value freedom although they have different views on what it means, the best way to obtain and increase it.”
The four first-place winners have each won R10, 000, with R5,000 to the second place winners and R1,000 each to third place. “The winning entries stood out for their holistic approach to a difficult question, making it clear that these young people realise that difficult problems do not have easy solutions and require serious thought,” said Esau.
The winners are:
Essays – 14 to 18 years old
1. Jacob Fried – Bishops Diocesan College, Cape Town: Opportunity over obedience – constructing an open society
2. Arman Krynauw – home-schooled, Centurion: Untitled
3. Mmaphuti Khani Selelpe – Loreto Convent School, Pretoria: The woman’s ongoing fight for freedom
Essays – 19 to 30 years old
1. Adam Silberman – University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg: First they came for the socialists
2. Topollo Mokhathi – Helderberg College of Higher Education, Cape Town: No title
3. Karabo Mashaba – University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg: No title
Videos – 14 to 18 years old
3. Sandisiwe Dlomo – University of the Witwatersrand (from Dundee, KZN): No title
4. Phoebe Kingston – Westerford High School, Cape Town: Just Smile
5. Lethokuhle Khumalo – Port Shepstone High School, KZN: No title
Videos – 19 to 30 years old
1. Christian Beyra Martinez – University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg: People and power
2. Shanees Nkandu – University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg: No title
3. Tracey Williams – University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg: No title
The winning essays and videos can be seen on the Progress SA website here:https://www.progress.org.za/competition-winners
Source:PR
