Simphiwe ups his game with 3 apps to help those in need

Simphiwe Radebe, 17, has created three apps. SUPPLIED

Simphiwe Radebe, 17, has created three apps. SUPPLIED

Published Jan 23, 2021

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Cape Town - A Joburg teen seeking to provide much-needed solutions to society through his love for computer programming, has created not only one but three apps to help those in need.

When Simphiwe Radebe, 17, saw the long Covid-19 screening lines at his school last year he created an app, Diversity High School, in less than a month to help his teachers speed up the process. Its function is to save temperatures which will save on the school's database. Other functions include absentee forms and pupils’ homework.

He then recompiled the app Educave which supports all schools and can be found on the Huawei AppGallery.

More recently, he created Healthify, an ambulance tracking app and Help, an app made for girls and women who don’t feel safe. All one needs to do is scream help and the app will send the location to all the person’s listed emergency contacts in real time as it is voice-activated.

Healthify can be found on the Google Play Store, while Help is still in the process for publishing. He also plans to make the apps available for iOS users, however, it will cost him $99 (R1 464.80) per year to keep them on the App Store.

Simphiwe, who was a Grade 12 pupil at Diversity High School last year, said technology is the future and it shouldn't be disregarded.

“I want to show people that you can do many things at any age. Children should be intrigued in learning more about technology as it is the future. You can solve problems using technology. A few things I want to work on regarding these apps will be to change the design and the performance of it,” he said.

In 2018, Simphiwe started a business, Brain Cap Developers, with his friend Thapelo Rammala. This involves creating new gaming apps, websites and logos.

“I've learnt seven programming languages over the course of three years. I could only learn about these languages during my spare time as school was my number one priority. I’ve learnt a number of things from these languages such as making my own websites from scratch and having them work with many different functions,” he said.

It is not surprising that he has a love for programming as his father, Sibusiso, is an IT specialist.

“I guess it was passed down from my father. However, programming was influenced by my mentor, Thato Matsime as well as my cousin, Sifundo Mdlalose. They have been the most help in my journey in programming and I appreciate them a lot,” he said.

Simphiwe plans to study programming this year.

Sibusiso described his son as a humble and respectful person.

“He is a hard-worker, go-getter and when he puts his mind to something he will not stop until it's done. He never showed any signs of being interested in technology when growing up. I was so amazed when he did his first app after teaching himself coding online. I wish him all the best in the future,” he said.

Weekend Argus

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