Lead the Wave - MSC Radio

Shameez Patel Papathanasiou was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. She is a civil engineer by day, fantasy author by night and a choc-chip cookie fiend somewhere in between. Her literary adventures take her to new worlds filled with magic, monsters and someone to fall in love with.

Driven by a zest for life, Anita Arendsen is passionate about people, growth, lifelong learning and mindful living. She is the founder of Striped Giraffe (Pty) Ltd, a consulting firm offering professional services that are designed to increase individual and organisational wellbeing and effectiveness. Anita is an inspirational speaker, facilitator, assessor, moderator, mentor and coach.

Avikar Thilrama (23) from Umkomaas, attended Naidoo Memorial Primary School and matriculated at Umkomaas Secondary School in 2015, he then completed a National Diploma in Human Resources Management, and is now in pursuit of a Bachelors in Business Administration. Professionally, he began as an HR Intern and climbed up the ladder to become an Admin Controller.

Avikar is one of the Finalists in Mr India South Africa 2021.

He says "Entering this competition was to get out of my comfort zone so I can be one step closer to my dreams. I aspire to hold an executive position one day and through a hands on approach lead and motivate others. I’d like to use my learnings from life to mould young children to see that their current life situation does not determine their destiny. Being an only child as well as a child of divorce, I grew up with my grandparents and my mother, their morals and values have guided me thus far and I’d like to instil them into others."

Ms Yovani Naidoo is a 21 year old, South Indian vocalist from South Africa. She recently completed her Biological Science degree at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal and she intends on completing her honours in Immunological Sciences. Yovani has been trained in both, the Eastern and the Western genre of music and she can sing in Tamil, Telegu, English and Hindi. Music from her debut CD "Dheiveega Dharisanam" is regularly featured on South African radio stations and she has also been interviewed on television. Yovani has shared the stage with many great South African musicians and in June 2019, she performed live with international singer Mr P. Unnikrishnan and his daughter Uthara. Yovani has toured abroad to California in June 2012, when she represented South Africa at the World Tamil diaspora conference, and in India, in December 2012. Apart from singing, Yovani plays the harmonium, the sitar, the violin and the keyboard.

From a young age, Yovani has been a gold medallist at the annual South African national Eisteddfods. She is blessed to be tutored by the following six gurus, Mr Pragalathan Vadival (Carnatic music), Ms Mala Lutchmanan (Tamil), Dr Kanada Narahari (sitar), Ms Rozanne Botha (violin), Mr Ashley Kisten (studio recordings) and the late Mr Beama Naidoo (Harmonium & Keyboard). Yovani is an ex-member of the KZN Youth-Orchestra, in 2015, 2016 and 2017 she played the Violin and in November 2016, she was the recipient of the Kannadhasan Award, becoming the  youngest person to earn that award in South Africa. Her Telugu song Erathiri was entered in the Lotus FM lyric writing competition in 2020 and she was placed first in the category. In February 2021, she was selected by an international panel of judges and esteemed artists as one of ten winners worldwide for the “2020 International Film & Music Festival” held in India. In 2021, she represented South Africa at a Global Tamil Concert held on behalf of the University of Toronto. After competing in the NRI Telugu Idol 2021, she was selected by ABR Productions USA for a private album. Yovani is passionate about music and culture and she aspires to challenge herself each day.

Darrien Luke grew up listening to Gospel music and he dreamed of being one of the singers at Hillsong, as a result of growing up in church with a musical background, but it was when a young Darrien sang along to his dad playing the guitar, that his beautiful voice was discovered.

Mishka Reddy is a young lady with a creative itch, which brought her vision to reality during the lockdown in 2020. She is a fashion designer and the creator of Dayanthani, a clothing brand named after her mother whom she considers her greatest inspiration.

Sarvdasha Sewlal is a 27 year old lady aspiring in the innovative field of engineering. Obtaining her BSc Degree in Civil Engineering in 2016 at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. She is currently employed as an engineer in the structural department of Transnet Port Terminals. She is actively involved in structural designs, drawings, condition assessments as well as site investigations.  Besides being crowned Miss India Northern KZN 2018, Sarvdasha has also authored an award winning poetry anthology called Yellow Roses, which launched on the 12th of December 2020. She has been awarded Best Female English Poet 2021 by the Book Behind Awards.

Nasirah Kathrada is a spoken word poet and human rights activist from Johannesburg, South Africa. Nasirah is the author of a book that advocates for children’s rights and is now an International Children's Peace Prize nominee.

Rešoketšwe waa'Manenzhe is a South African villager and storyteller. Her short stories and poems have appeared in the Kalahari Review, Fireside Fiction, Lolwe, FIYAH, and the 2017 Sol Plaatjie European Union Anthology, among others. She has won the 2019 Writivism Short Story Prize, the 2020 Dinaane Debut Fiction Award, the 2021 Akuko Short Story Competition, the 2021 HSS Award for Best Fiction, and she was the first runner-up for the 2019 Collins Elesiro Prize for Fiction. She has been shortlisted for the Sunday Times Literary Awards and the South African Literary Awards. If you happen to meet her, please ask her about her debut novel from Jacana Media. It’s called Scatterlings, and she’s sure you’ll love it. But please, also talk to her about the endangered wild fruit Balobedu children once enjoyed in summer.

Joastin Naidoo, 24, was born and raised in Chatsworth, Durban. Joastin holds a Masters in Medical Science degree majoring in Anatomy, and is currently employed as a Lecturer of Human Anatomy at the Nelson Mandela University Medical School in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth). An avid fan of literature, Joastin has been dabbling in writing for several years which culminated in his debut self-published poetry anthology titled 'Soliloquy.'.

Katishcka Kiara is a young and talented South African actress with a role in season 2 of the Netflix series, Blood and Water.

Irfaan Mangera is the youth activism programme manager at the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, he is also an intersectional community and youth activist, human rights educator and youth development worker.

Jatin Chavda is a South African traveler, fluent in English, Mandarin, Italian, French, Spanish, Gujarati and Afrikaans.

At the age of 14, he suffered a mysterious injury that left him unable to walk. Just days after this accident, his father passed away and Sibahle was left grieving and bereft of hope for his life as he knew it and the future he dreamed of. His disability caused him to feel shame within his rural community in the Eastern Cape – which can be a hard and judgmental place, where weaknesses are not looked on with much compassion, but God had a plan for Sibahle, and through sheer will and determination, he began to recover. He was hit by moving vehicles twice without being harmed and understood that although his dreams of playing soccer had been taken from him, there was a reason for this and there was much more he needed to do with his life. He came to Johannesburg where he could receive good medical attention and began to focus on building a new life for himself and has make his dream of being a published author come true. I Can and I Will contains 50 chapters that guide readers to understand that our true power lies within us. If we can only ignore the group-think and negative, chattering people around us and never, ever give up, then we are guaranteed to reach our full potential. If you know what it is you really want in your heart and have patience, diligence and a single-minded focus, then God will work with you, no matter what challenges you face. I Can and I will gives you all tools you need to succeed in making your life’s purpose a reality and setting an example for others to follow.

Jenipher Peter is a Tanzanian Youth Activist is the founder of a non-governmental organization called Determined Society Organisation (DSO) which is dedicated to creating a conducive environment for the society to achieve their dreams. Targeting youth, children and women, it promotes self-awareness skills, entrepreneur skills and a mentorship program. Jenipher is involved in numerous development and environmental conservation programs, as well as charitable events. She is currently chapter coordinator for Africa Youth Leadership Forum at Tanzania Institute of Accountancy (AYLF-TIA), and Volunteer Assistant Secretary at PLO Lumumba Foundation Tanzania.

Mr. Krish Govender is an entrepreneur and author of six books. He is also a qualified educator in Mathematics and Computer Science, and his first book is an original South African story titled “Finding My Family”. The second book is called “Losing My Family” and during the nationwide lockdown last year, he wrote an anthology of short stories called “South African Short Stories For Young Readers”. Mr. Krish Govender's message for the Youth is simple, never give up because success comes from hard work and commitment.

"No person, who has started out from a poor family and became successful did it without hard work and commitment. There are lots of things to be done in our communities. One just has to look around and one will see how many things need fixing. If you wait or someone to stand up and fix it, you might have to wait for years. You can be the person that your community has been looking for to improve conditions. Don’t waste your talent’s on frivolous things, and when your head hits the pillow at night, can you say that you assisted one person improve their life?"

- Mr. Krish Govender

Thabo Makhura is a Motivational Speaker, Life Coach, Preacher and Author of "Do Something" which is also the name of his clothing brand. He is passionate about bringing change to society, he is the founder of revealing mysteries of Christ International Ministries and he aspires to be an inspiration to upcoming authors, motivational speakers and poets.

Jashmir is a South African DJ, Producer and TikTok star, who is popularly known for his “Amaiphone (What If The iPhone Ringtone Was Made In South Africa)” among many others which have been trending on TikTok. Since the beginning of his career in 2013, Jashmir has ventured into musical genres such as Amapiano, EDM, Hip Hop and House Music, which are available worldwide, on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, and more.

Nonhlanhla Siwela is an 18 year old South African poet, activist, academic, independent thinker, and conversationalist. She believes in embracing her multifaceted nature, with a passion deeply entrenched in bringing about social change through poetry. Her poems critically evaluate and navigate the various social issues which are evident in our society. Nonhlanhla hopes to be a catalyst for informative discourse and provide healing or comfort to those who need it.

Reanne David, popularly known as DJ Rea is a South African icon. She is currently in her final year of studying towards a Bachelor of Arts in Corporate Communications. Reanne has been passionate about music from a young age, and she hopes that her passion will inspire others to pursue their dreams.

Kamogelo Masoga is the author of "Chasing the Dream" a collection of  short stories which depict the challenges we face, thus inspiring and motivating us as individuals.