Cape Town - Sailing around the world when you were born and raised in a township at least 600km away from the nearest ocean may sound like an impossible dream for many, but it has become a reality for a group of inspired young South Africans.
This weekend the group of 12 young people, all from challenging backgrounds, came together in the Mother City for a reunion to honour one of the original members of the group by renaming the foundation that helped each of them transform their lives in his memory.
Like the other young people from across the globe who were selected to participate in the innovative project, the South African 12 have all emerged as confident and determined young people who have translated a newfound sense of self-belief into action.
They have progressed their education, training and career paths to make a difference in the future of their families, communities and the country.
Masibulele Liyaba was the young man who turned his life around to escape gang culture.
Known simply to friends as Sbu, he not only became a yachtsman but also the first black South African to compete in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.
Jonathan Levy, spokesperson for the foundation, said: “Liyaba made an incredible journey from being a self-confessed ‘gangster’ in the mining town of Orkney in the North West to gaining his educational qualifications and then setting his sights on work and family.
“For someone who previously had never set foot on a boat, and was living a life of crime, his determination to succeed on the straight and narrow and his new self-confidence were testimony to the life-changing effect sailing around the world can have.”
On Friday, in Cape Town, the founder of the project, European financier and philanthropist Dirk Van Daele, hosted the 12 from across South Africa to celebrate their powerful stories of achievement over the last seven years and to mark the global legacy that has emerged to inspire people of all ages from around the world to “dare to lead”.
According to Levy: “Liyaba was studying in Johannesburg, supported by the foundation, and returned to Orkney to visit his grandmother - his only family and the person who had brought him up - but was stabbed to death by a former gang or rival gang member who it is thought was envious of his relative success in escaping his former gangster life.
This happened in July last year. His grandmother was heartbroken and died a few months ago.”
On Friday at 6 E Pier at the V&A Waterfront, Liyaba’s memory was
honoured when his friends renamed the Rainbow Foundation the Liyaba Rainbow Programme and unveiled the logo on a sailing yacht called Dare To Lead which set off from Cape Town yesterday on the next leg of the challenging Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.
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