The film, which is set to be released on the 8th of August, features Jennifer Hudson as Aretha and tells her story from when she was a kid, singing in her father’s church choir up to where she became an international superstar. It also features icons such as Forest Whitaker as Aretha’s father and Marlon Wayans as her first husband. Other supporting roles include Tituss Burgess, Mary J. Blige, and Marc Maron.

Of the actors and the crew, the Fracteton born Liesl had nothing but praise, describing them as ‘focused professionals’. Most of Liesl’s praise is reserved for the iconic Forest. She described him as a ‘humble genius’ that operated “on a level of complexity… that is really impressive”. She also described Jennifer as being devoted to making Aretha come to life by preparing both her voice and practicing Aretha’s body movements, months in advance. Of the comedic icons, Marlon and Tituss, she says that people will be pleasantly surprised by how gifted and talented they are in these dramatic roles.

Liesl is grateful that both the cast and crew trusted her and in return, she trusted them back. She says that in general, a movie set has a director and everyone listens to that director. However, on Liesl’s set, she made sure that everyone was equal and had a say in what the move should look like. This led to a work environment where there was no drama and nobody was trying to outshine the other. Instead, everybody showed up on time and excited about making the vision she had in mind, come to life. This is the vision that got her both the job and the respect of everyone that worked on set.

Now, being chosen to do a movie is not as simple as it sounds and studios usually interview many directors before they choose one. Liesl says that she was contacted by the studio bosses for a meeting where she was asked to share her ideas about how she would do the movie. When she got to the meeting, she greeted everyone and jumped right into what her vision for the movie was which included the time period, the songs, and the style of the movie. After the meeting, they thanked her and told her that they would get back to her. Two weeks later, they called her back and told her that she got the job. Studios also usually first hire a screenwriter and then a director, but the studio bosses were so confident in Liesl’s vision that they hired her first.

Of course, this is Liesl’s first movie but a South African always has a plan and she is not one to come unprepared. She had always wanted to do movies and started practicing with a film camera while directing her stage plays. One of the things she did was experiment with a camera to see how she could make her theatre plays even better. Some of her plays also had to be recorded on film which basically meant that Liesl also had to ‘direct’ the cameraperson to make sure that they filmed from the right angles.

The next thing she did was practice her hand at filmmaking by directing episodes of television programs. These include popular shows such as Queen Sugar, Insecure, The Walking Dead, and Jessica Jones. By the time she started working on ‘Respect’, she was confident that she had sufficiently prepared herself for the major task of filming a big-screen movie. She had spent years making sure that she could handle a camera and once again, by the looks of the trailer, it seems like she got it right. But of course, it isn’t just about the camera. It is also about making characters come to life and for a director, that means connecting with the character on a deeper level.

When asked what part of her identifies with Aretha, Liesl quickly responded that it was Aretha’s political identity. Having been a kid in apartheid South Africa, she could understand how Aretha felt as a kid in a racially segregated US. Like Aretha, Liesl was always surrounded by adults talking about revolution and resistance. Also like Aretha, Liesl isn’t just all talk and she used her art to fight against racial and gender discrimination.

Whereas songs such as Aretha’s ‘Respect’ became a big part of the civil rights movement (the US’s version of the struggle), Liesl used the theatre to make her mark in the world of activism. Liesl’s family had moved to the US when she was 15 and it was here that she was involved with her first high school play, ‘Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf’. Written by Ntozake Shange, the play is essentially about seven African American women who have experienced horrors such as rape, abandonment, abortion, and domestic violence. This play was the beginning of her journey as an artist, a journey that would lead her to direct many plays right across the US, including the award-winning Broadway play, Eclipsed.

Eclipsed was written by Danai Gurira (who is most famously known as, Michonne, on the hit show, The Walking Dead) and it was the first Broadway play to feature an all-black and all-female creative cast and team. The play, which is about five Liberian women and their tale of survival near the end of the Second Liberian Civil War, went on become a massive hit, running for several years and receiving several awards and nominations. These included a Tony nomination for Liesl for best director, the highest honour a US stage director can receive. Her activism did not stop when she partnered with Disney to direct the R400 million stage version of Frozen.

Disney is very strict about how it does things and always features characters in their stage plays that look like the characters in the movies. The Frozen movie essentially featured all-white characters but Liesl insisted that if Disney hired her, she would be able to hire a more diverse cast. This led to the first African Americans playing the roles of Anna and Hans. Kids of all races and ages loved it and it made no difference to them that Anna was black (proving once and for all that the world will become a better place because of future generations). Cooper Howell, who played the part of Hans, said that Liesl made sure that everybody was equal and no one was treated differently because of the colour of their skin. Needless to say, Liesl had already made a major contribution towards the fight for equality, just like Aretha had.

When asked what inspiration the audience (especially young people) can get from the story of Aretha Franklin, Liesl looks at how everyone can relate to the trauma and pain that Aretha experienced. Not only did she have to deal with racial and gender discrimination, but she also dealt with childhood sexual abuse as well as the divorce of her parents, and as an adult, she survived a physically and verbally abusive marriage. However, says Liesl, “everybody has their own capability to heal themselves” and “find a light at their own dark tunnel”. The key, says Liesl, is to connect with that part of “the self” that “that is bigger than the trauma or the pain” and Aretha found this through her faith. Liesl concludes that Aretha struggled and “got trapped in her own head but she ultimately fought her way through that into a brighter, better future for herself”.

The movie will premiere on the 8th of August internationally and on the 13th of August in South Africa, in cinemas right across the country. If you’re a fan of Aretha and want to experience her larger-than-life story, be sure to show some ‘Respect’ by grabbing a ticket at a cinema near you.

If you want to watch the trailer, check it out below:

The post Cape Town’s Liesl Tommy Brings Aretha Franklin’s Story to the Big Screen appeared first on Coloured South Africa .

The 36 year old lawyer has been listed as one of the “100 Most Influential Young South Africans”, an accolade she shares with previous awardees such as Wayde van Niekerk and Caster Semenya.

The ‘Most Influential Young South Africans initiative’ aims to identify young people with an outstanding record of contributing to the growth of South Africa and inspiring (or influencing) other young people to do the same.

Melene was recognized for the work she did through her ‘Women Lead Movement’ which she started in 2017 at the age of 32.

It aims to empower women and girls through mentorships and human rights programmes.

The movement has thus far helped thousands of women and young people, has been recognized by local and international human rights agencies, expanded internationally, and also runs projects to teach boys and young men about the rights of women so that they can become better adults.

This accolade is just one of many for her work with the movement.

Melene has already been selected as an Inaugural Obama Leader in Africa, a Future Africa Forum Leader, a Mandela Washington Fellow, a JCI 2020 ‘Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World, a JCI ‘Ten Outstanding Young Persons of South Africa’, an African ‘100 Most Influential Women’ and a Brand Ambassador for Brand South Africa.

She was also selected by the International Advocacy Organisation, ONE Global Campaign, to feature in three of their global campaigns and she has had the honour of meeting former President Barrack as well as having written and spoken extensively on Democracy and Governance in Africa and generally sought after to speak at international conferences (the latest being at the ‘Young African Initiative’ conference held in Ethiopia).

Melene completed a degree in Law at the University of the Western Cape where she was also elected to and served on the Student Representative Council.

She worked as a Candidate Attorney, a legal researcher at the Constitutional Court of South Africa in the office of Constitutional Court Judge, Albie Sachs), National Cabinet Committee Secretary responsible for Justice, Crime Prevention and Security as well as Governance and Administration (in the office of the presidency), Special Advisor to the Minister of Sports and Recreation and Media Liaison for the Minister of Tourism.

She also graduated with a Masters degree in Public and Constitutional Law as well as Diplomas in Media Studies (Institute for Journalism South Africa).

Through the prestigious Mandela Washington fellowship, she completed a course on Governance and Democracy (University of Virginia) and Leadership (William & Mary – Raymond A. Mason School of Business).

The post Another Accolade for Melene Rossouw: Selected as ‘100 Most Influential Young South Africans’ appeared first on Coloured South Africa .

In 2015, the 19 year old from Graaff Reinet caused quite a stir when he stopped the clock running 45.42s over 400-metres in Potchefstroom.

As South Africa’s second-fastest 400 metre sprinter in 2015 (the first being Wayde van Niekerk), it was believed that Berend was a future champion in the making, especially given the fact that he was one of the few South African athletes that managed to dip under 45.50 seconds.

Things, however, did not quite work out as he had hoped.

His family was going through tough financial times which may have impacted his ability to focus on the track.

Berend had qualified to compete at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing but clocked a time of 46.52s during the heats.

Things had not gotten any better as time passed, not only with his athletics but also with his family’s financial situation.

In 2018, being a responsible kid, Berend felt that he was being selfish for focusing on his athletics and decided to quit.

He says that he got a job on a game farm in the Eastern Cape and despite it being tough, he kept at it because he wanted to help his parents.

He had not, however, stopped thinking about athletics and dreamed of running that one perfect race.

Last year, the national relay coach, Paul Gorries, came knocking at his door and told him “you don’t quit athletics when at 19 you ran 45.42s race in the 400 metres”.

This made Berend think hard about what he wanted to do with the rest of his life and he realised that this was a second chance to fulfil that dream of the perfect race.

Towards the end of 2021, at the age of 25, Berend joined Tuks (University of Pretoria) Athletics.

Being 25, he realises there is no time to waste and he has got to make every minute count when he is on the athletics track.

He is confident that he will dip under 45 seconds in the 400 metres but he is realistic about how tough it will be.

Berend explains: “It is fast from the start. I consider the first 50 metres to be crucial. Then the thinking games start. You can never afford to slack down, but you also don’t want to burn off too much energy too early. I prefer being in the second or third position after 200 metres. The last 150 metres is usually the moment of truth. That is when the battle between your brain and muscles start in earnest.”

Paul is also confident that Berend will dip under the 45-second mark.

“Berend now realises what life outside of athletics is about,” says Paul.

“I don’t doubt that his experience as a farmworker has mentally toughened him- motivated him. That is why I think he will dip under 45 seconds.”

Note: Edited from an article that appeared on the University of Pretoria website

The post Top 400m Sprinter, Berend Koekemoer, Returns to the Track appeared first on Coloured South Africa .

It was further revealed that he died on Sunday evening, the 7 ^th of February, but it is not clear what the cause of his death was.

Minister de Lille described Edwin as a “true partner and supporter” always giving her “the freedom to pursue” her work in “serving the country”.

Both she and her son, Alistair de Lille, described him as a “loving father”.

Of their “lifelong partnership”, the Minister stated their “marriage was built on respect”.

“Eddie was a true partner in the sense of the word and never stopped me from following my convictions,” wrote Minister de Lille.

“There was respect and support until his final days and I will miss him dearly.”

The post Minister Patricia de Lille’s Husband, Edwin, Has Passed Away appeared first on Coloured South Africa .

Storm’s latest award is the first place gold medal at the 2020 Buca International Fair, in the category of Mathematics and Computers. The fair was held in Turkey’s Buca district. It aims to encourage high school students to do scientific and Technological Research; and contribute to the positive development of young people.

For those who do not know, in 2019 as a grade 11 student, Storm created an algorithm (computer programme) that can identify pneumonia through x-rays. Storm basically created a unique computer program for an x-ray machine which makes it possible for the machine to see if someone has pneumonia. The faster pneumonia is picked up, the faster doctors can treat it which could lead to a lot of lives being saved. More importantly, unlike other algorithms, it does not need an internet connection to work. This means that Storm’s algorithm works faster and once again, saves more lives.

This invention is especially important at a time when the world is still struggling with Covid-19. If a Covid-19 patient gets pneumonia, his or her chances of dying accelerate. When you see a Covid patient on ventilators struggling to breath, that is because of the pneumonia. Of course, the faster the pneumonia is picked up, the faster the patient can be put on ventilators and treated.

Medical professionals and academics that have spoken to Storm about his invention says that despite having only been in grade 11 at the time, he has the mind of a university graduate. When you suggest to him that he is a genius for having come up with this invention, he politely disagrees and says that it has everything to do with hard work. It took him three months of sleepless nights to learn about medicine, and x-ray machines. Programming was his hobby and as an already gifted programmer; it took him a day to type out the algorithm. In fact, he is so good at programming that he has certificates and licences in C# Unity Development, Unity Android Game Development, 2D/3D Unity Game Development, C++ Unreal Engine Game Development, MathWorks MatLab, MathWorks MatLab Machine Learning and MathWorks MatLab Deep Learning.

In addition to this latest award, he also won the HATCH Hendrik van der Bijl Special Award at Eskom’s Expo International Science Fair for Young Scientists, a Special Award from the Department of Science and Technology, the Siemens Ingenuity for Life Award and he represented South Africa at Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair. He has also received hundreds of thousands in prize money and is using that money to copyright his idea and turn it into a business.

Given his long list of achievements at such an early age, one would assume that he does not have time for hobbies but this is not so. If there is one thing he loves doing, its playing basketball. In fact, there was a point in his life where, if he could, he would spend most of his time on the basketball court instead of studying. Contrary to what many believes, there is no such thing as the perfect kid and Storm never claimed to be one. He reluctantly admits that from grade 8 to 10, he was a bit of a rebellious kid.

The reason he is reluctant to talk about this part of his story is simply because he is not proud of it. A rebellious kid, he was in and out detention, his parents having to see the teachers and the teachers themselves not being fond of him. However, he looked in the mirror one day and asked himself if, 30 years from now, he would be proud of what he sees. The answer to that question was, ‘No’. He sat down with his parents and promised them and himself that he would never go to detention again. He was and will never be prepared to give up on basketball so he made a deal with his parents that he would find a balance between the two. This is how he lives his life and will continue to live his life.

To the question of whether a kid can turn his or her life around and become remarkable, the answer is a resounding, “YES!” In that same year that he decided to change, Storm started developing an award winning medical computer programme, became one of his teacher’s favourite students, became the deputy prefect of his school, made his parents proud and most importantly, when he looked in the mirror, he did so with pride. He became such a disciplined young man, that during the 2020 Covid epidemic, instead of enjoying his time at home, he got up early every weekday, put on some clothes, sat down at his desk and went through his schoolwork as if it was an ordinary school day. Now, do not misunderstand. He is still a bit of a rebel. You do not create a ground-breaking computer application by just sticking to the rules.

At this point, it should be mentioned that Storm had to go up against some of the brightest young minds in the world. These bright young minds include those from the best performing nation in Mathematics and Computer Science, China. This last point emphasises what Storm teaches us as a nation. He confirms that we are capable of not only competing with the best but also beating the best. Yes, winning is not everything but it does feel nice though, holding up that gold and seeing it glitter in the sun.

The post How Storm Won Gold at the Buca International Fair for Maths and Computer Science appeared first on Coloured South Africa .

In the post he states that he is a student at the University of the Free State, having started studying in 2016 on a first year bursary.

After having passed his first year, he successfully applied for a NSFAS loan but this would only start paying out in the second half of 2017.

As a result, he was set back and could only start doing his first semester modules in 2018.

In 2018 however, his brother passed away, the shock of which made it impossible for him to focus on his studies.

Of the 5 modules in his first semester, he only managed to pass 2, setting him back even further.

Even worse was the fact that the NSFAS loan was cancelled because he failed to perform academically, his account was handed over to attorneys for failure to pay and he was removed from the residence, leaving him without a place to stay.

However, he was not willing to give up on his dream of becoming a lawyer and fighting for those who could not fight for themselves.

The Kraaifontein born Keanu had excelled at school despite having grown up surrounded by poverty, drugs and violence; both outside and inside his own home.

He was the kid that could not even attend his matric farewell because there was not enough money and despite all this, he had fought his way into university and the chances of a better life.

He had gotten this far and giving up was not an option.

He fought his way back into university, right into third year, doing everything he could to try and pay his fees and accommodation while at the same time, not letting the mounting stress affect his studies.

Keanu has tried every avenue to try and find funding, even going to the Office of the Free State Premier but with little success.

Hopefully, going forward, South Africa will become a place where kids like Kyle won’t struggle to get a good education.

For now, however, he needs your help.

His account has once again been handed over to the University’s attorneys, so if you want to assist in ending this financial nightmare, you can do so by donating whatever you can.

You can make your donation directly into the account of the University of the Free State by using the following details:

University of the Free State

ABSA Bank

Brach Code: 630734

Account number: 1570 151 688 (UFS account)

Account Number: 2015295856 (My Student number/account)

If you want more information, you can contact Keanu on 0641229589.

The post Law Student, Keanu Fortuin, Needs Your Help with Paying for his University Fees appeared first on Coloured South Africa .

More specifically, she was named as one of the Top Ten in the Category of Leadership which means that in 2020, the 34 year old Melene is considered to be a top 10 leader in Africa.

Melene was selected among other celebrated Africans such as Tunisia’s Pan-African activist, Aya Chebbi and South Africa’s international athletics champion, Caster Semenya.

The award itself aims to recognise young Africans for their outstanding contributions towards the development of Africa and the criteria for selection include “excellence in leadership and performance, personal accomplishments, commitment to sharing knowledge, breaking the status quo and being an accomplished young African”.

For those of that have not read the ‘ Story of Melene Rossouw ’, the constitutional lawyer and internationally celebrated humanitarian is the founder of the ‘Women Lead Movement’, an organisation that empowers women and girls through mentorships and human rights programmes.

Despite having limited resources (she used her own money), soon grew the movement into an internationally recognised organisation that helped thousands of women and young people.

She began expanding the movement internationally, opening an office in Madagascar with plans to open another office in Namibia.

It is for her work with the movement that she started receiving numerous accolades, which include becoming an Inaugural Obama Leader in Africa, a Future Africa Forum Leader and a Mandela Washington Fellow.

She had been selected by the International  Advocacy Organisation,  ONE Global Campaign, to feature in three of their global campaigns (“Progress not Promises”, “ Yours  in Power” and “Pass the Mic”) and she has had the honour of meeting former President Barrack Obama (as an Obama Leader).

To give an idea of how huge her platform is becoming, the last ‘One Global Campaign’ she participated in reached an audience of 250 million people.

This year alone, she had been selected as one of the JCI’s 2020 ‘Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World’, a JCI ‘Ten Outstanding Young Persons of South Africa’ (nominated for her ‘Contribution to Children, World Peace and Human Rights’) and most recently, she was selected as one of Africa’s ‘100 Most Influential Women’, in the category of Philanthropy.

Being a highly qualified professional and having to sacrifice a highly paid career, Melene confesses that she was not sure whether she could handle the financial burden of this new path she had chosen.

However, she adds that when she looks “back at the strides” that has been made with the movement, she knows that she is on “the right track”.

The post Melene Named as one of ‘100 Most Influential Young Africans’ and Top 10 African Leader appeared first on Coloured South Africa .

Born and raised in Cape Town’s Retreat, the 42 year old Celeste is the founder and CEO of React24, a company that is based in the male dominated maintenance and construction industry. More specifically, her company does building and home maintenance for the largest companies in the country as well as government, which include everything from plumbing to laying down cables for fibre internet.

The ‘Standard Bank Top Women Entrepreneur’ award aims to recognise trailblazers whose efforts have uplifted women in business and society. The award is especially focused on women leaders and trailblazers currently making waves in the world of business. Over her 20 years of experience in the industry, Celeste has certainly made a lot of waves and as a woman; you have to make waves to break through the glass ceiling.

Celeste says that the maintenance and construction industry generally discriminates against women because it is believed that only men can do the industry’s ‘tough’ jobs. She says that there are many talented but unemployed women with plumbing, electrical and carpentry skills. Despite these skills being in demand, these women are not getting the jobs simply because of the crime of being born female. It doesn’t get any better if you move up the managerial ladder.

She says that despite her vast experience, her leadership and competence are still questioned, once again, just because she is a woman. Although things have improved over the years, she confesses that it is still sometimes the case that women (especially women of colour) struggle to get the larger private and government contracts, especially in her home province of the Western Cape. However, under Celeste’s leadership, React24 has built the kind of highly respected reputation that makes it hard to be ignored.

She says that she started the company around her kitchen table with the help of her husband as well as two employees and one vehicle. It is now one of the most well-known maintenance and building companies in South Africa, catering to the largest private companies and being part of the largest government construction projects. She has even added the React Training College, which aims to empower persons of colour with the vital skills needed for the industry as a whole. She is especially interested in empowering women and is in fact, one of the few companies that employ female plumbers. Her commitment to women empowerment was yet again celebrated earlier this year when she won the 2020 Woman Mentor of the Year at the inaugural Empowerment and Recognition of Women in Construction Awards.

For those hoping to become entrepreneurs, Celeste advises that your most valuable asset are the people that work for you, so get the best and treat them well. She also says that you have to be a tough and a bit forward. The world of business is only kind to those who are willing to take charge and take chances. She says that she never takes ‘no’ for an answer and this has helped her get far.

If you want to know more about Celeste and her company, or just use her services, you can do so by visiting React24.co.za

The post Celeste Named Standard Bank Top Women Entrepreneur of the Year appeared first on Coloured South Africa .

The Afrikaans language booklet features “16 inspirerende verhale deur bruin mense” (16 inspirational stories by brown people). These stories include that of award winning writer and academic, Professor Rozena Maart (born in District Six and persevered despite the cruelty of apartheid) and veterinarian, Dr Ayoub Banderker (who pursued his passion for helping our four legged friends to become one of South Africa’s first Vets of colour).

Of course, in addition to featuring other remarkable ‘bruin mense’ like her husband, Kyle Bester (Psychologist, PhD Candidate and editor of the booklet), it also features the story of Dr/Major Danielle Arendse. Now, the one thing you should know about Danille is that she has had to face a stressful, backbreaking uphill battle to get a university education. In fact, when we talk about what it is to ‘dala wat jy moet’, we are talking about someone like Dr Danille Arendse, so let’s take a look at her story.

Before we begin, for those of you that do not know what the word, ‘dala’, means, here is the fancy version: to perform an action to get a result or to have an intention to perform the action to get that result. To ‘dala’ what you must is to ‘do’ what you must. For example, to get your degree, you have to ‘dala’ what you must. You would, for example, have to find a job and risk getting robbed (or worse) on your way home after a long day of classes.

As noted, 33 year old Danille’s life is emblematic of what it means to ‘dala what you must’ because, well, she had to dala what she had to. Having already decided in grade 8 that she would become a psychologist, like any future success, she put in the work and sacrifice to excel in school. However, after her mom and dad divorced, money was tight which made Danille feel that she had to dala what she had to help out.

During the last three years of high school, she was one of the breadwinners, getting weekend work so that she could help out her mom and sister. She did not complain however, seeing only the positive. She was gaining life experience and contributing to the family. When she finally matriculated and was accepted to the University of the Western Cape, money was still tight. Her family could not pay for her studies and accommodation (in Cape Town) so Danille dala’d what she had to.

Because of her impressive matric results, she applied for and got a merit bursary. This bursary did not however cover everything but it did make it possible for her dad to cover the cost of her registration fees. After registering, she also applied and secured a NSFAS study loan. She knew that part of her loan would be turned bursary if she passed all of her modules. She worked extra hard to maintain her impressive results and obviously, she passed all of her modules. Thankfully, she managed to find accommodation at the home of a family member in Cape Town.

After dalaing what she had to, she could focus on her first year of studies without having to worry too much about money. However, by the end of the year, money became tight again and Danielle once again dala’d what she had to.

At the end of her first year, while other young people enjoyed their holiday, Danille found a job and started saving up. When her second year of studies began, she found jobs on university as a mentor, administrative assistant, tutor and research assistant. Danille never spent money on anything that she did not need but despite all of her efforts, finding enough money to pay for her basic needs was always a struggle. There were too many mornings and evenings when she did not even know how she would get to campus and back home. Sometimes she would just get into the taxi, hoping that the ‘guardtjie’ (the guy who collects the taxi money from the passengers) would understand when he realised that she was short (thankfully, Cape Town has a lot of kind hearted taxi drivers and guardtjies). Some evenings, she had no choice but to just walk home despite the dangers that awaited her around every dark corner, especially during the winter months.

Yes, Danille had it tough. She was stressed out about money, her free time was spent working and she had too, quite often, risk her safety to get her degree. She also had to maintain very high grades to make sure that her NSFAS loan gets turned into a bursary and more importantly, make sure that she gets into the Psychology Masters programme. In order to be considered for the Masters programme, she’d have to be one of the top 10 performing students. Given how tough the Psychology course was and how stressed out Danille was, it must have seemed like an impossible goal. Yes, Danille had it tough and yes, we would have understood if she didn’t make it, except that she ended up doing the following…

She was awarded faculty certificates of merit, became a member of the Golden Key International Honours Society, became a recipient of a National Research Foundation bursary to complete her third year; honours and Masters degrees, got into the Masters Programme, completed her Masters, passed her Psychology Board Exam with 98%, received an internship at the South African Defence Force’s Military Psychological Institute, was promoted to fulltime as a military research psychologist, received military training (she can take you down if she has to), was promoted to the rank of Major  under the South African Medical Health Services division, was elected chairperson for the Officers Forum at the Military Psychological Institute, received a PhD Scholarship from the National Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, completed a PhD in Psychology at the University of Pretoria, completed more than 30 additional courses, presented more than 20 papers both locally and abroad at various academic conferences (her last presentation was called, ‘Barriers to Belonging: Reflecting on my identity as a ‘Coloured’ woman in Post-Apartheid South Africa’), published several papers in internationally recognised peer reviewed academic journals (which include psychological and military journals), has several papers that is still waiting to get published, received a Feminism & Postgraduate Award from Leeds Beckker University’s, and of course, compiled the book; ‘Dala Wat Jy Moet’. That is of course, quite a mouthful, but not quite the end.

Being someone that understood what it is like to struggle financially, she never passed up an opportunity to help out where she could. During her time at university, she was part of the Student Mentoring Programme (where she was awarded a certificate for outstanding mentoring), volunteered as a trauma counsellor at the Kolping Society of South Africa and she helped found the Gender Equity Unit Food Programme at the University of the Western Cape (she was in charge of Public Relations and Marketing). The programme aimed to provide food to students that were ‘struggling financially’ and has thus far, provided assistance to thousands of students. Currently, she is a Psychology Mentor at the Psychological Society of South Africa’s National Mentoring Programme and of course, she compiled a booklet that aims to empower brown communities.

Now, at the beginning we wrote that Danille compiled the booklet because she knows what it is like to dala what you must. Of course, her ultimate goal is to provide motivation for kids who are going to have to dala what they have to, especially during those times when they desperately want to give up. You see, Danille might be tough but she is not made up stone. She is a person who had to endure the kind of hardships that made her want to give up, go home to Worcester and just feel safe with her family. A fiercely independent person who did not like to burden anyone with her problems, she often found a spot where no one would hear her and the tears would flow. She was only human, on the verge of breaking but she did not. She knew that this was her one shot to achieve her goals and she was not going to let it slip through her fingers. Of course, no woman is an island and Danille insists on making sure that everyone knows that she did not succeed on her own. She wants kids to know that there is no shame in asking for help when you really need it. She is abundantly grateful for all the people that helped her along her path to success.

Someday, we might live in a perfect world, where kids who are willing to put in the work and sacrifice, can do so without having to worry about how they are going to pay for things. For now however, we need people like Danille, people who can tell us that regardless of our circumstances, anything is possible and the sky is the limit. The road to success is never an easy journey but when we feel a little despondent, always remember, there is a Psychologist, PhD and Military Major by the name of Danille Arendse, who had it tough but regardless of whether things seemed impossible, she dala’d what she had to.

Note: For those interested in the booklet, Danille and her collaborators decided that they did not want to sell the booklet but rather, provide it for free. You download it by clicking on the following link: Dala Wat Jy Moet

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Coloured SA previously wrote about the popular duo (Chad the Medical Doctor and Gino the Tech Fundi) and their successful endeavour to build the Wave Innovate Brand.

The company started out by selling a range of electronics which includes their premium media streaming device, Wave Tv, and their range of Wave Smart Watches.

The smartwatch range had already reached ‘sold out’ status and their Wave TV had been voted one of the best streaming devices in South Africa.

However, given their tendency to expand their range of products to where there are new opportunities, the pair had decided to introduce a range of high-end, fashionable masks.

It has already proven exceedingly popular with 1 million already sold in South Africa.

Given that the mask goes for anything from R160 to R890, it is safe to say that this new product has made quite a bit of money.

Of course, some might look at the price and ask, ‘why is it so expensive?’

Well, apart from being a high end product, it is because of the very simple approach taken by Chad and Gino, which is to take something and just make it better.

The mask was designed to be stylish and comfortable, and is the only one to include a five-layered filtered uni-directional valve system.

This just means that with their mask, you are more protected and less likely to breathe in germs.

Chad says that not only are you more protected from the type of germs that makes you more susceptible to Covid, but this winter showed us that masks protect you against colds and flu.

The mask gave Chad the opportunity to use his medical training and start expanding the company into the medical field.

Because of the increasing size of the company and the additional responsibilities, this year, Chad has had to step down from his duties as a medical doctor.

He is now running the company with Gino on a fulltime basis and the mask is part of his plans to use his medical knowledge to expand the company into the medical field.

In fact, the mask is so comfortable, that it was endorsed by Manny Pacquiao’s promotions company, John Riel Casimero (three-time World Bantamweight Champion), Freddie Roach (trainer to Manny Pacquiao), Miguel Cotto (multiple-time world boxing champion) and Amir Khan (light-welterweight world champion).

Of course, these endorsements are also part of Wave Innovate’s global strategy to expand into the key markets of America, Australasia and Asia.

In the meantime, if you want to get your hands on their masks, you can check it out at local retailers such as Dis-Chem.

Note: If you want to learn more about Chad and Gino, check out the story we wrote on them and about how they started their business. You can also check out Chad’s wife’s story, who is also a medical doctor and has been at the forefront of fighting the Covid pandemic. See Below:

• Chad and Gino: How a Medical Doctor and a Tech Enthusiast Started a Tech Company
• How Chanell Became a Medical Doctor and How She Almost Didn’t…

The post Chad and Gino’s Company, Wave Innovate, Goes Global appeared first on Coloured South Africa .