Cape Town is regarded as one of the country’s most laid-back and indulgent cities, but the huge strides our youngsters are making is changing that narrative. Some, even at the tender age of 8, are being internationally recognised for their talents and unwavering spirit. These six young locals are working hard to make their city proud, and we can’t help but applaud them for their efforts.
Amy Jeptha (30)
Amy Jeptha is an award-winning young film director and screenwriter from the salty plateau of Mitchells Plain. She achieved international recognition as the script writer for the Ellen Pakkies biopic Ellen, The Ellen Pakkies Story after the film premiered at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in January. She also received an award for the Best Script and Best Short Film categories at the 2017 KykNet Silwerskermfees for her short film Soldaat. She has also been named as Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans, Destiny Magazine 40 Women Under 40, and won the Eugene Marais Prize
Alice Phoebe Lou (25)
Fiercely indépendant musician Alice Phoebe Lou was born right here in Cape Town, and is making waves in the European music scene.
In 2016, Lou released her first full length studio album ‘Orbit’, it comprised of nine jazz-influenced eclectic tracks recorded between Cape Town and Berlin. The album encapsulate the freshness of her style, vagabond spirit and showcases her distinctive, soprano voice. Lou has sparked the interest of several major record labels but continues to strive for her own freedom of creativity after spending two years playing intimate gigs across Europe and South Africa, and supporting established like-minded artists like Rodriguez.
Kim Windvogel (28)
Kim Windvogel is a Capetonian writer, activist and poet, as well as co-founder of a non-profit company called FemmeProjects NPC. FemmeProjects NPC goes to local schools to facilitate feminists sexual and menstrual health workshops to help teenage girls better understand and cope with puberty. She has recently appeared on local TV shows, AfternoonExpress, and will be in New York to partake in a political forum on sustainability as well.
Ludwick Marishane (28)
Ludwick Marishane invented a solution to a problem many people experienced during the height of the Cape Town Water Crisis – a perfumed gel which could be used as a substitute to a bath or shower called DryBath. Marishane also started his own company, Headboy Industries, after setting up his business plan with nothing but a smartphone and a dream. He has featured in a number of international publications and platforms, and most proudly – Forbes Magazine. Marishane has also hosted his own TEDTalk.
Brittany Bull (17)
Brittany Bull is a 17-year-old high school student who formed part of an all-girl team that designed and built the MEDO Space Launch satellite, South Africa’s very first private satellite. Once in space, the satellite began collecting data on agricultural and food security on the continent. If at 17 she is this brilliant, you can only imagine what awaits this feisty young engineer in the years to come.
“We can try to determine and predict the problems Africa will be facing in the future,” Bull said.
Traigh Pathon (8)
Eight-year-old golfing phenomenon from Athlone, Traigh Pathon, is destined for great things. Having competed in the European Kids Golf Championship in Scotland, Pathon has been playing golf since the tender age of 14 months. Pathon competed in his first international competition in 2017 and is expected to go on to do great things in the world of golf in future years.
His father, David van Schalkwyk, noticed that Traigh displayed excellent hand-eye coordination from the time he first began walking. “We got him his first plastic set of golf clubs when he was 14 months old and he joined me on the driving range at three-years-old. So he was always exposed to golf,” he said.
Picture: Pixabay, She Leads Africa, Beautiful News, Ogilvy PR, Facebook, Alice Phoebe Lou Website.