Business mag celebrates 50 young achievers

The Free State Legislature, in partnership with the Office of the Premier and local business magazine, Sauve Leader, celebrated 50 prominent young people from different sectors at a lavish magazine launch held last Wednesday as part of Youth Month celebrations.
The booklet, which comes in a magazine format, features 50 young people from the Free State who are making a mark for themselves in their sector of work or through philanthropy.
Suave Leader founder, Kamogelo Seekoei, said they pitched the project to the Legislature, looking to celebrate young people who are representing the province well in the country. “We went for different sectors, including agriculture, engineering, the arts, entertainment, community development, entrepreneurs. But we didn’t select one person from each sector. Some sectors, such as engineering, have three people – one is in civil engineering, one is mechanical and the other is in electrical engineering. We also have the same in the entertainment industry, explained Seekoei.
She said identifying the 50 prominent youth featured in the book was a tough process. “We went out and looked for them, but it was really a tough process. For example, if you go to people in manufacturing and tell them you are looking for young people who are doing well in this sector, they will give you three names and then you have to decide between the three.”
She said they decided that as they want this to be an annual book, they will keep some of their nominations for the next years, and hopefully they will see improvement in those people’s lives through being featured. “It’s not only about who is making money in their industry, but it’s also about those people who are making a difference in their sector and their community. And about making your nation proud,” she said.
The book is available at schools and libraries. “Particularly high schools. We want to also showcase the different sectors to young people. We want to say to young people, if you want to go into construction, here is a young lady who is in construction. Instead of the usual subject requirements, they get a real life example,” added Seekoei.
She said they are working on an online version of the book, and they hope that this will inspire more young people in the province to work towards achieving success. – SEITHATI SEMENOKANE
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