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20 December 2019 | Story Charlene Stanley | Photo Anja Aucamp
Sprouting Hope
Shadei Lepholletse, BSc Genetics and Physiology; Masabata Sebusi, BCom Accounting; and Tumelo Zondi, BCom Entrepreneurial Management; three of the directors of Sprout Africa, an agriculture and agri-processing company - the perceived potential of which has earned them each a place on the list of News24’s 100 Young Mandelas of the Future.

Enactus, 100 Young Mandelas of the Future, Sprout Africa, Masabata Sebusi, Shadei Lepholletse, Tumelo Zondi, and Farai Mzungu

Kovsie students’ innovative agri-processing venture is paying off. Two years ago, a seed of resolve was planted in four young UFS women. They entered the Enactus National Competition for entrepreneurship projects –and came stone last.

But instead of giving up, they re-grouped, re-evaluated their priorities, and came up with an innovative agri-processing community-upliftment concept that has earned each of them a place on News24’s list of 100 Young Mandelas of the Future.

“We asked ourselves what the big businesses out there were looking for when it came to community development. At that stage, we focused on arts and crafts and recycling. But we realised the need was for projects providing solutions around food insecurity, water management, and sustainable development,” explains Masabata Sebusi, final-year BCom Accounting student.

Masabata and her three partners, Shadei Lepholletse, Tumelo Zondi, and Farai Mzungu, are all studying in different fields. They pooled their diverse insights, knowledge, and perspectives. And Sprout Africa was born.

The company’s aim is to give people in rural communities training in modern farming techniques, equipping them with basic business skills and helping them to find an outlet for their produce. As part of the process, the women approached potential business partners – from local supermarkets to big commercial companies – to negotiate on behalf of the farmers.

This time, they seem to have struck the right nerve. Having won various grants while the concept as still an Enactus project, they have since registered Sprout Africa as a company. Various stakeholders have already shown interest to partner with them.

Their main advice to fellow entrepreneurs: Think outside the box, find innovative ways to solve problems, learn from the communities you serve, and collaborate with people who have different skills from you.

Except for Farai, who graduated earlier this year, all of them are in their final year of study. Next year, they won’t be job hunting like other new graduates. They’ll simply be stepping full time into their innovative enterprise.

An enterprise that promises to keep on sprouting and growing. And hopefully produce seeds of inspiration for other students to pick up.

News Archive

Two scientists part of team that discovers the source of the highest energy cosmic rays at the centre of the Milky Way
2016-03-22

Description: Giant molecular clouds Tags: Giant molecular clouds

Artist's impression of the giant molecular clouds surrounding the Galactic Centre, bombarded by very high energy protons accelerated in the vicinity of the central black hole and subsequently shining in gamma rays.
Artist's impression: © Dr Mark A. Garlick/ H.E.S.S. Collaboration

Spotlight photo:
Dr Brian van Soelen and Prof Pieter Meintjes of the UFS Department of Physics.
Photo: Charl Devenish

H.E.S.S. (High Energy Stereoscopic System) scientists publically revealed their latest galactic discovery in the international science journal, Nature, on 16 March 2016. These scientists were able to pinpoint the most powerful source of cosmic radiation – which, up to now, remained a mystery.

Part of this team of scientists are Prof Pieter Meintjes and Dr Brian van Soelen, both in the University of the Free State (UFS) Department of Physics. Dr Van Soelen explains that they have discovered a proton PeVatron – a source that can accelerate protons up to energies of ~1 PeV (10^15 eV) – at the centre of the Milky Way. The supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A has been identified as the most plausible source of this unprecedented acceleration of protons.

The protons are accelerated to Very High Energy (VHE) gamma rays. The energy of these protons are 100 times larger than those achieved by the Large Hadron Collider at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research).

According to Dr Van Soelen, the fact that this research has been published in Nature demonstrates the importance and pioneering nature of the research conducted by H.E.S.S. The H.E.S.S. observatory – operational in Namibia – is a collaboration between 42 scientific institutions in 12 countries.

In 2006, H.E.S.S. was awarded the Descartes Prize of the European Commission – the highest recognition for collaborative research – and in 2010 the prestigious Rossi Prize of the American Astronomical Society. The extent of the observatory’s significance places it among the ranks of the Hubble Space Telescope and the telescopes of the European Southern Observatory in Chile.

“The next generation VHE gamma-ray telescope,” Dr Van Soelen says, “will be the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), which is currently in the design and development stage.” Both Dr Van Soelen and Prof Meintjes are part of this project as well.

H.E.S.S. has issued a complete statement about the paper published in Nature.

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