The A! Annual Stakeholder Gala Dinner: Reflections and Gratitude

ACTIVATE! Change Drivers network is a miscellaneous nexus of over 4,500 young leaders, called Activators, committed to driving positive change across South Africa. The network was initiated in 2012 with a mission to connect, equip and inspire emerging young leaders to address societal challenges through innovative solutions, regardless of race, gender, or geography, aiming to forge a more equitable society by placing youth at the forefront of community influence and development. In recognition of the eminent work the network has done up to 2024, the Organisation hosted an Annual A! Stakeholder Dinner at Tso’s Cafe in Roodepoort on the 31st of October 2024. The objective of the celebratory event was to reflect on and proffer gratitude to partners for their contributions to the prodigious year the organisation had.
On the event programme, there were prestigious team players from the organisation who made different contributions to both the event and ACTIVATE! Change Drivers as an entity. The programme directors were Nathacia Olivier, the establishment’s coordinator, and Brian Mchunu, a Facilitator of the ACTIVATE! Training Programme. A series of plenary items were tasked, in chronological order, to the Network Support Manager, Lebohang Zimba, for welcoming and opening of the dinner; the A! Special Projects and Partnership Manager, Rammolotsi Sothoane, for the Keynote Speech on behalf of the CEO and an overview of special projects’ highlights for the year; the A! Executive Director, Tebogo Suping, for the Network Support Overview and Survey Analysis; the Board of Directors (BOD) Representative, Lunga Schoeman, for a message of support and appreciation from the BOD; the Activator Representative, Linda Simelane, for a message from an activator – the A! Journey; and from the A! HR & Operations Coordinator, Patrick Lehana, for notes of thanks and closing remarks.
Just after the stakeholders settled in their seats, Ratiwe Sehlata, a 2019 Activator, began the programme by warming the evening with the performance of a poem. When she introduced herself, she mentioned that she chose a poem about life as her first citation to indicate that for an organisation to reach such a magnitude of impact, the key players must love what they do and care about the livelihoods of young people in South Africa. That set the tone of the whole event. Since then, the gala dinner has become an event of sharing meals with purpose servers and passionate servants of South African youth. This was more evident when Lebohang Zimba took to the stage her perspective on how spiritual the work the network is doing is and how “everyone seems to bring their hundred percent every day in the midst of all the challenges” they may be facing. She also highlighted that after so many events that ACTIVATE! hosted, it is seldom to see ACTIVATE! staff members in one room. This is one of the prolific elements that set the gala dinner apart from the other events.
The second speaker was Rammolotsi Sothoane, who, in the middle of his “representation of the CEO” keynote, also spoke lengthily on the impact of Programmes that are in partnership with ACTIVATE! on the grounds within communities through Activators who lead those projects. He gave a shout-out to most project leaders, including but not limited to Generation G Champions who were present, namely, Nomthandazo Shabangu, Neo Masilela and Shoki Chuene, for the wonderful work they are doing in their communities.
Before the next speaker could make it to the podium, the evening needed to be heated up one more time by another poem from Ratiwe about an African child. The contents of the poem blended so well with the programme that it impeccably faded out the previous speaker and laid an emotional foundation for the following speaker, Tebogo Suping, whose message underscored the inequalities in our societies and the unaccountability of mandate carriers of our country and our communities. To emphasise the hindrances to success from just being young and African while on the other hand elaborating on how arduous it was for the network to carry through what it had accomplished so far, she stated, “When you come into leadership, as young people, the funders would give you a quarter of what they used to give somebody else – but you must make it happen because you are young, and you are black and they want to see what you are capable of. We are an organisation with very little funding, but what we can offer young people is accredited training so that they can be professionalised and find a way in life.” Her speech challenged the narrative that only government officials are responsible for our democracy and eradication of poverty – for she highlighted with ample references that everyone should play a role in their communities.
Another rare highlight of the event was that the Board of Directors were represented for a message of acknowledgement on the work ACTIVATE! is doing in South Africa. His acknowledgement was enhanced by Linda, who cited the A! Journey – bringing the impact of ACTIVATE! on activators to the fore, just before Queen would bless the evening with her melodious voice by performing two songs that prodded the whole room to sing along with amusement. Her performance was an outstanding prerequisite for Patrick Lehana to give closing remarks, opening the way for stakeholders to reel their heed to their stomachs and network.
This gala dinner served as a significant rostrum for reflections on work done, evoking passion, commitment, and drive for stakeholders to continually hold hands on this long walk to the full utility of democracy. Communities can count on ACTIVATE! for civic education, mental health and Gender Based Violence awareness, building social solidarity, expanding research, and, in turn, equipping the youth with tools to ease their purpose-serving journeys and the sundry.
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About the author:
Mpho (MrSir) Matlhabegoane is one of the A! Hub Writers. He became an Activator in 2019, and through Activate! Change Drivers, he underwent educational training with Programmes such as SWITCH Entrepreneurship Programme, National Mentorship Movement with Printing SA and Citizen Journalism with The University of Witwatersrand (Wits). He is a Mental Health Awareness Advocate, and to spread mental health awareness, he published three books that have been accepted by Gauteng Department of Education as of 2023, namely: The Story of MrSir (Word For The Record), Expanding The World Of Nerds, and Views and Emotions (Poetry Journal of MrSir).
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