By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
In celebration of 30 years of democracy, and following Tangible Africa’s successful 2023 #Coding4Mandela event, this year’s ambition was to drive even more young people to code simultaneously – and do it across the globe. The aim: To reach 30,000 learners across two continents.
Tangible Africa Founder and Head of the Nelson Mandela University Computing Sciences Department, Prof Jean Greyling, said the event started as a small local tournament in Gqeberha in 2018. It then exponentially grew to become a national event in 2022. Last year, over 16,000 learners from across the country, and other parts of the continent, took part.
For the 2024 #Coding4Mandela event, the team expects around 30 000 learners across 70 sites in Africa and Southeast Asia to participate. With the theme “Igniting Potential, Impacting Tomorrow”, participating African countries included Ghana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, with a special group of learners logging in all the way from Indonesia to participate in the event for the first time.
#Coding4Mandela is the brainchild of the Nelson Mandela University Computing Sciences Department and the Leva Foundation, made possible through their engagement project Tangible Africa. Key sponsors for the event include AWSinCommunities, Dutoit, and a host of other corporates including S4 Integration, Fibertime, BBD and SAS.
According to AWS South Africa’s Director of Software Development, Roux Joubert, “We’re always proud to mold the future of our economy. This lies in upskilling our young talent and preparing them to succeed in the future world of work.”
This year participating sites and schools also engaged in various interactive activities on Mandela Day aimed at introducing learners to coding, including a vibrant song and dance which all schools were challenged to perform and record.
Co-sponsor is the Dutoit Group, a leading South African producer, distributor and exporter of superior fruit and vegetables, which will be distributing Juicy Gems lunch packs with apples to 5 000 participants across the country. “A healthy mind needs a healthy body, and what better than juicy fresh fruit to keep the mind active?” says Gysbert du Toit of the Dutoit Group.
According to Tangible Africa’s Engagement Manager, Jackson Tshabalala, host from various sites across the continent are bubbling with excitement. These include Robben Island, the offices of the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Houghton, Bizana Garden of Remembrance, the Captivity Site outside Howick, the Albert Luthuli Museum in Durban and the Boardwalk Shopping Centre in Gqeberha.
“Each site decides on their own prizes, varying from medals, to cash prizes, to coding kits and even mobile phones, “says Tshabalala.
Once the coding tournament ends, Leva Foundation CEO, Ryan le Roux says, “We will follow up with teachers from competing schools to introduce them to our online unplugged coding courses.”
Overall winners in both senior primary and high school categories will be determined through a virtual round table involving the winning teams from all participating #Coding4Mandela sites. Winning categories will include senior primary and high school learners.
To find out more about coding in your region or to participate in the #Coding4Mandela event, contact info@levafoundation.org.