Khumo Kumalo, 19, is the founder of Misunderstood, a website he manages. Khumo also hosts a podcast that discusses a multitude of topics, from elections in South Africa to the Israel and Palestine crisis, as well as discussions about “groove”. The podcast provides a platform to unpack pressing issues relevant to the youth and offers a space for young people to share their stories.
Khumo writes the newsletter 94 was Misunderstood, which aims to explore South Africa’s history and evolving political landscape, reflecting on the vision leaders had for a post-democratic South Africa. He says this project taught him that young people need to take responsibility for their future. Khumo also believes more should be done to educate the youth about politics as South Africa moves into a new era of coalition government.
One of his challenges was how to grow Misunderstood to reach more people. He stopped focusing on the numbers and cared more about the content and its substantive value over the past three years and the site has grown. Khumo believes that with conversations about climate change, education and social justice being sidelined by many politicians, the youth will begin to chart their own path as they become more aware.
Matric, St John’s College
One of my proudest projects is the newsletter 94 was Misunderstood. I’m particularly proud of this project because of the opportunities it has presented. It has allowed me to contribute to political discourse gearing up to the elections. Given many young people having felt apathetic and out of touch with politics. Additionally, the newsletter allowed me to contribute to the Mail & Guardian in debates and in writing. Through this project I discovered a necessity for us to do more to inform the population and the youth about voting and their political rights.
My late grandfather, Dumisani Kumalo, continues to be a role model to me in every sense — from the way he cared for himself to the way he worked with people and his unwavering commitment to justice. He was fair and treated everyone equally, regardless of who they were. Even five years after his death, he continues to be a mentor and my personal hero.