MAKHADO - Two innovative students from the Vhembe District are presently representing the province at the prestigious Brightest Young Minds (BYM) conference aimed at fast tracking development and to showcase the potential of future leaders in Cape Town.

When the BYM committee travelled to South African tertiary institutions early this year in order to interview prospective candidates, Lusani Mulaudzi (22) from Ha-Mashamba, a fourth- level Actuarial Science student at Stellenbosch University, and Myra Rabeleni Muligwe (22) from Lwamondo, a chartered-accountancy student at the University of Cape Town, were amongst the 100 brightest students identified to attend the brainstorming conference.

BYM conference facilitator, Leigh Meinert (25) said: "We are very pleased that we have such a broad representation from many disciplines." He said that it is important that a variety of perspectives and training can be applied to their scenario planning exercises. BYM chairperson Dries Mellet said that they are looking forward to an incredibly stimulating and varied discussion. He said that although BYMs differ in their academic training, they all intend to become involved in business once they graduate. In many respects, the conference is one of the first places that learners get to apply their viewpoints in teamwork setting.

Out of more than 500 applications, the BYM organising committee had the tough task of choosing the final 100 bright young minds. The Brightest Young Minds began in 2000 as an initiative of a group of University of Stellenbosch students who recognised a glaring gap that desperately needed to be bridged between the corporate sector and top achiever students.

The group has managed to secure sponsorships from several major corporations in order to convene the conference that congregates future leaders into an inspirational environment, allowing them to network with one another and corporate sponsors and speakers, by facilitating the emergence of creative synergies and bold socio-economic initiatives for the last four years.

In a telephone interview with Mirror, Lusani, who matriculated at the Emmanuel Christian School in 2000, said that the BYM committee selected him at the right time when he was dreaming of an opportunity to involve him in leadership and creative thinking for the benefit of the country.

"This is good because others will be recruited by the companies. This conference is beneficial and valuable to me because we are getting more exposure to the corporate sector" he said. Lusani said that people in the Limpopo Province, especially in the Vhembe district, must not lose hope about him and Rabelani. "We are still going to represent our Province; this is a clear indication to our parents and teachers that their support, motivation and monies are not for nothing, they must continue giving that support," he said. Lusani sees himself becoming established as an actuary and coming up with solutions to the socio-economic problems in South Africa, using the principles that he believes work. When asked how the country is going to benefit, Lusani said that this is a long- term process; there could be no immediate results of benefiting now, but the leadership skills and creative thinking he is acquiring would benefit the country once he joined the corporate sector.

Rabelani said that she hopes to equip herself with enough knowledge and expertise to be both professionally and personally ready for the challenge of starting her own business.