+
upworthy

south africa

Klein Kwagga understood the assignment at his sister's concert.

Some kids are too shy to ever want to get on a stage, some will spend most of a performance staring awkwardly at their shoes, and some kids love the opportunity to show off what they've practiced in front of an audience.

And then there are the kids were simply born for the spotlight. You know them when you see them.

When Dirkco Jansen van Nieuwenhuizen hopped on stage with all of the other brothers and sisters of the dance students at René’s Art of Dance in South Africa, no one expected a viral sensation. According to Capetown Etc, it was the school's year-end concert, and siblings were invited to come up and dance to Bernice West’s Lyfie—a popular song in Afrikaans. And Dirkco, who goes by Klein Kwagga, took the assignment and ran with it.

Keep ReadingShow less
Cape Town City F.C./Facebook

Mateo Manousakis and the Cape Town City Football Club.

Mateo Manousakis is not your average soccer fan. From the time he was 4 or 5 years old and attending practices with Vasili Manousakis, his father who coaches in South Africa's Premier Soccer League, Mateo's passion for the game was apparent. But Vasili had no idea what a sensation his son would become.

Young Mateo has spent the past several years leading the Cape Town City Football Club in pregame chants and dances, and videos of him have gone viral. Few kids would have the gumption to serve as the front man for a professional sports team coming down the tunnel, and few teams would consider an 8- or 9-year-old such a part of the team that they happily follow his lead. But that's just what happened with Mateo at Cape Town City F.C.

“I didn’t expect it at all,” Vasili, who served as assistant coach for the team, told IOL in 2018. "I think, here at City, it’s just the amazing team spirit that took him in; he has the love and respect from the players, he can feel it, it’s real, and they always want to see him."

Keep ReadingShow less

Gender-based violence in South Africa is not just a problem, it's a "national crisis," according to South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa. Official figures state 137 sexual offences are committed each day, and more than 30 women were killed by their spouses last month. Between April 2018 and March 2019, an alarming 66,992 sexual offenses were reported.

The country is working to combat the problem, and this week, girls received support in the form of an inspirational speech from Meghan Markle. During a royal tour of South Africa, the Duchess and Prince Harry visited Cape Town's Nyanga township to speak out against gender-based violence. Nyanga is known as South Africa's "murder capital," with 289 murders reported in the area last year alone.

YouTubewww.youtube.com

While in South Africa, the royal couple visited Justice Desk, a human rights group that helps girls who've been the victims of rape and abuse. There, Meghan and Harry danced with children, heard personal stories from women affected by gender-based violence in the region, and watched girls take a self-defense class.

Meghan spoke to a crowd of 250 people, bringing them a message of hope. "We are encouraged to hear your president take the next step towards preventing gender-based violence through education and necessary changes to reinforce the values of modern South Africa. I have to say, I feel incredibly humble to be in the presence of all of you as you stand firm in your core values of respect, dignity, and equality," the Duchess said.


Keep ReadingShow less

On April 2, 2018, the world lost one of the most influential anti-apartheid activists in history.    

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the former wife of South African president and hero Nelson Mandela, died at the age of 81.

Photo by Mujahid Safodien/AFP/Getty Images.

Keep ReadingShow less