Seeing hungry children trudging long distances to school in ragged uniforms and broken shoes, crossing rivers and walking through forests, reminded Bulelani Mancotywa of the poverty in which he had grown up. The Eastern Cape entrepreneur remembers going to bed hungry, and is now on a quest to assist other young people from impoverished homes. Now that his circumstances have improved, he goes out of his way on multifaceted projects including sports development, poverty alleviation, education development and skills development.
“This is an initiative to plough back to the community that raised me. “This is my little contribution to the young beautiful souls out there who have big dreams but whose poverty and lack of opportunity are stumbling blocks. “This is an initiative to fight the bondage of poverty, unearth sports talent, and fight the scourges of substance and alcohol abuse and teenage pregnancy.
” Mangcotywa, who was born and raised in the village of Nomcamba outside Ngqeleni, is a self-taught photographer and owns Khiwa Media. In 2015, Mangcotywa graduated with a teaching diploma from Walter Sisulu University He founded Khiwa Media the following year, offering videography and photography services. “I have trained about 20 youths from scratch and provided them with jobs,” he said.
“I assisted eight of them to establish their own photographic companies, and am happy to see them succeed.” Mangcotywa founded the Khiwa Media Annual Sport Tournament, the flagsh.