Happenings - Our Stories

Winslow Schalkwyk - is an artist, spoken word writer, performer and producer that has evolved since his performance on the TEDxCapeTown stage. He shared his perspective and experience on the topic of Unlearning, as showcased via his latest production, SUGARWATER which was featured as part of the 2020 digital line-up for the National Arts Festival 2020. We had the pleasure of watching a reboot of his poem, “What we play, is life”, that was specifically written for the TEDxCapeTown stage in 2012.

Mel Mwevi - is a storyteller, singer-songwriter, performance poet, scriptwriter and actor from Namibia. “Hear to Listen” was her thought-provoking contribution to the TEDxCapeTown stage in 2016. During Lockdown, Mel put together a visual poem, in collaboration with visual artist and her husband Martin Amushendje - as a response to the National Theatre of Namibia's call for artists to speak on human rights issues amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of our Intersections of Change digital programme, Conversation Three: Creativity Inspires Hope, Mel unpacked her journey of creating this visual poem and the deeper meaning behind the name, “Rest... a Human Right?”

Roeshdien Jaz joined us on our virtual stage to talk about how creativity has inspired hope for him, since 2012. Roeshdien was diagnosed with colon cancer then, and his journey of self-reflection includes unpacking the power of Integral Emotional Intelligence (EQ/EI) and how elevating one's emotional intelligence can literally “save” your life (Self-awareness/ Self-management/ Social awareness/ Relationship management).

70% of the TEDxCapeTown 2020 active volunteer team includes Womxn from diverse backgrounds. We took a moment to shine a light on our womxn volunteers and asked them to share some key Lockdown Lessons.

While it remains true that this pandemic has been tough, we’ve been thinking about how - despite the challenges, unknowns and worry - we all can make positive changes for ourselves, our communities and the world we live in.

Here are 8 simple ways you can make a difference while staying home and safe.

Richard Mulholland is no stranger to the TEDxCapeTown stage. He’s an accomplished speaker with innovative ideas on how to move your business “forward to normal” during this pandemic.
During his insightful conversation, Rich shared the five valuable steps he’s currently using to help his business move forward.

On Friday, 5th June 2020, we hosted our first virtual event. Enthusiastic minds took their virtual seats and tuned into the very first conversation of our 10-part digital series: Intersections of Change.

Missed our first conversation? Don't worry, we’ve got you. Check out the video we’ve put together and don’t forget to visit our event page for more details on upcoming events.

For the remainder of 2020 our team has decided to host virtual event gatherings - the Intersections of Change Digital series. Here's more information on what we have planned. Sign-up to our newsletter or follow our social media channels to get event updates.

People have always been social creatures, so it’s no surprise that we’ve found new and creative ways to stay socially connected during this time. How is this global pandemic shifting our perspective on technology?

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, TEDxCapeTown has decided to cancel the 2020 main event. Find out why and what our next steps are as a team.

The Humans Behind TEDxCapeTown are all working remotely during this time to be safe and responsible in light of the President’s address. 

The 5th of March saw TEDxCapeTown proudly host its first ever Open Mic Night - an event that truly encompassed our ethos: “ideas worth spreading”.

Here's a guide on what we look for and what we don't look for when we do a Call for Speaker applications.

Dr. Rufaro Nyamuda is the founder and CEO of KeepSafe Schools, she considers herself a calculated risk-taker and concerns herself with the long-term sustainability of new healthcare and technology advancements. She’s taking to the TEDx stage to share her idea that children can and should be empowered to create safer schools.

Ruth Hall, a Professor at the Institute of Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western Cape, is an accomplished academic whose research on land and agrarian reform in South Africa spans 23 years.

Passionate about social justice, Ruth says her mission is “to make land reform sexy” , and is excited about the opportunity to present her case on the matter at TEDxCapeTown’s Salon event on 19 October, 2019.

After a successful corporate career, this writer, speaker, host of The Eco-Logic Awards and editor of The Enviropaedia publication turned to his ‘heart's-calling’ in 1997.

David is extremely passionate about raising public understanding of current environmental challenges; empowering individuals and businesses to adopt more sustainable practices; and encouraging people to re-evaluate their own role and responsibility towards Natures community of life on Earth.

Gokul Nair is a co-founder of Impulse Biomedical, a start-up company spun out from the Medical Devices lab at the University of Cape Town, which commercialises affordable healthcare technologies for the developing world.

When we asked what gets him out of bed in the morning, his response was “Healthcare and its accessibility.” Nair adds that, “Healthcare is a core human right, and after reading and trying to grapple with the historic, political and economic nuances of why people cannot access basic healthcare (especially on our continent) I have had a passion for trying to rectify some of that.” 

Giancarlo Beukes is a mechanical and biomedical engineer, inventor, entrepreneur and co-founder of a multi award-winning medical devices start-up called Impulse Biomedical. Along with his business partner and fellow TEDx speaker, Gokul Nair, the vision that led to founding Impulse Biomedical was to develop affordable healthcare technologies for developing and emerging markets, with the aim of ensuring accessibility for all to necessary life-saving technologies.

Baratang Miya is not only a Social entrepreneur, she is currently the Managing Director of Uhuru Spaces a Cultural Innovation Coworking space, and the CEO of GirlHype - a coding school for women and girls that offers free and paid coding courses, events, advises companies on tech talent processes and procedures, and manages an eco-system for female developers.

This serial entrepreneur who’s passionate about people and technology, is on a quest to build a better world. In 2018 Kyle resigned from his company to pursue an ambitious idea that he believes has the potential to eradicate avoidable poverty in our lifetime. And so Vollar was founded.

Dr Tinashe Mutsvangwa is enthusiastic about changing the landscape of healthcare in Africa and is the Lead of a research group called Medical Image-based Inference and Distributed Diagnosis (Mi2D2), which focuses on the development and use of low-cost medical imaging solutions, particularly for resource-limited settings.  

Adewale Adejumo, or Wale as he prefers to be called, is the Founder and Managing Director of Zasttra - one of the fastest growing online retail stores in South Africa.
An entrepreneur, with a postgraduate degree in Marketing, Finance, Banking and Investment, has been recognised a number of times for his business acumen and ‘forward-thinking’, this includes being selected as Destiny MAN’s 40 under 40 Entrepreneurs (2017), The Young Independent Newspapers 100 Young Innovators in South Africa of 2017, and one of Nedbank’s 25 young future change-makers in South Africa (2015).

Recognised as one of the 100 Brightest Young Minds in Africa, Cindy Mkaza-Siboto is the co-founder of Emagqabini Education Academy, an educational non-profit organisation operating in Site B Khayelitsha.

The organisation - which was established to assist young people from the township through academic support, mentorship and career planning- started off assisting 15 learners and today supports more than 100 young people.

Richard Mulholland is an ex-Rock ‘n Roll roadie, entrepreneur and renowned speaker who has presented his ideas in many countries including Canada, Puerto Rico, UK, USA, Germany, Kenya and Pakistan.

Passionate about problem-solving and spreading ideas, Richard spends his time doing what he loves -  activating his audience. When he’s not doing that he can be found coaching many top CEOs and TED speakers.

Carryn Ortlepp is the Chief Operations Officer at a Cape Town-based leadership development consultancy called Lockstep. Under the Lockstep banner, she also facilitates a dedicated leadership program focussed on NGO leaders and her side hustle / passion project is speaker and presentation coaching.

Lauren Jacobs is a ‘Her’storian, a word she chooses to describe herself as she is passionate about discovering and sharing women’s stories, especially from the past. She hopes the TEDxCapeTown speaker experience will be filled with personal growth and fresh vision for the future. She adds that, “I hope to see lives changed. I hope the audience will be deeply moved, especially women when they hear that their stories and their lives hold unique value and deserve to be preserved for future generations. We all are a living story and we will leave something behind that deserves re-telling.”