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University of the Free State (UFS) student Pfarelo Maphangule was awarded the 2023 Sunday World Unsung Hero certificate in the Community, Sports, Arts, and Culture category at a recent event held at Johannesburg’s Houghton Hotel.

The annual ceremony, held on 24 June 2023, celebrates the achievements of young South African innovators who are nominated as role models in business and entrepreneurship, technology, science and innovation, education, community development, agriculture, and climate and sustainability, among other categories.

The 20-year-old Maphangule, who is a third-year Bachelor of Education student on the UFS’s Bloemfontein Campus, started doing volunteer work as a grade 12 student in 2018, working with the Congress of South African Students to distribute food and donations to over 2 000 young people, families, and schools in Ivory Park in Midrand, Johannesburg.

“We are all born with a purpose and, growing up, I saw a lot of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, and I did not want to see myself in the same circumstances,” Maphangule says.

The Youth Leadership Organisation he founded has a team of nine young people, but it is currently not receiving any funding from the government or private organisations.

Maphangule describes himself as a “visionary” who wants to “bring change to communities”. “A candle doesn’t lose its light by lighting another one,” he says. “I would like to see young people grow up with leadership skills.”

In his spare time the budding philanthropist provides coding lessons to underprivileged children, teaches them to read, and gives away school shoes. He is also an ambassador for the Division of Student Affairs’ Social Support Office, Vice-Chairperson of the Student Association Council, Chairperson of the Off-Campus Student Association, and Vice-Chairperson of the Kovsie Development Programme.

Maphangule says he chose to study towards a degree in education because he believes the discipline is “more than micro lessons; it is about shaping the future of students and learners to become better citizens... Teachers are the parents when the biological parents are not there.”