JOHANNESBURG: Five Indian-origin South Africans feature in a list of the top 100 youth figures who are expected to shape the future of Africa.
The project to identify the top 100 influencers, innovators, trailblazers, healers and disruptors aims to highlight how the future of the African continent lies with its youth.
The leaders were selected by public nomination in a project coordinated by Independent Media, one of South Africa's top media groups.
"Africa has always been portrayed as a vulnerable continent, desperate for and dependent on Western financial aid. However, I've always held a strong belief in the progress of Africa, and the youth are a critical component of its development," said executive chairman Iqbal Surve.
A childhood fascination with rock pools led to scientist Nasreen Peer winning numerous awards for her research in this area, which included discovering a new species of crab in the World Heritage Site at the Isimangaliso Wetlands Park on the north coast of South Africa.
Horticulturist Zayaan Khan is local coordinator of the Slow Food Youth Network, a global organisation advocating quality food production and biodiversity protection.
She is also an expert on entomophagy (eating insects as food), which Khan says is partly about reviving South African indigenous food culture that was lost through colonisation of the country by the West.
Gabriel Hoosain Khan is a rights activist who was initially kicked out of his home in the Indian township of Actonville, near Johannesburg, when his family discovered that he was gay.
He now works with marginalised communities across South Africa and has also written a book showing young people how to actively advocate for their rights.
Kalnisha Singh, who started the first woman-owned construction company in her home province of KwaZulu-Natal, now works with community organisations "in order to influence the fabric of South African economics".
Faraaz Mahomed, a senior researcher at the South African Human Rights Commission, undertakes projects to hold government accountable and ensure that human rights are adequately considered in legislation and policy.
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