As the Temba Bavuma Foundation reaches its tenth anniversary, it has deepened its commitment to one of its founding pillars: giving boys and girls from disadvantaged backgrounds access to quality education.
That commitment took shape in Alexandra today through the Foundation’s partnership with St David’s Marist Inanda Alexandra Campus and Empowered Futures.
The Future Founders Challenge: Soap-to-Startup Build a Business in a Box was co-designed by the Temba Bavuma Foundation and Empowered Futures, and launched at the school as a youth entrepreneurship and financial literacy activation delivered as part of Youth Month. The programme brought together 46 Grade 10 learners for a morning of practical business and financial skills, but it is the partnership itself that speaks to the heart of the Foundation’s work.
One of the Foundation’s core objectives has always been to open the door to the kind of education that changes the trajectory of a young person’s life. The St David’s Alexandra Campus model brings that vision to life. It allows learners to remain rooted in their own community while accessing the standard of education and opportunity that was historically out of reach.
A young person does not have to leave Alexandra to find excellence. The excellence is being built where they are.
During today’s launch, learners worked in teams, each receiving a Business in a Box starter kit. Over the course of the challenge, they will use it to create a product, build a brand, identify their customer, work out pricing and profitability, and develop a complete business concept to pitch to a panel of judges.
The box is a deliberate part of the lesson. Rather than handing learners unlimited resources, it recreates the conditions that real entrepreneurs face, where funding, materials and access are often limited. Learners are encouraged to use the contents as the foundation of their idea or as a starting point to build on, while remaining free to source additional materials if it strengthens their concept. The aim is to show that innovation does not require abundance. Sometimes the most valuable skill is learning to be inventive within constraints.
It is a principle that mirrors the reality of the communities the Foundation serves, where young people have long done a great deal with very little. The challenge reframes that reality as a strength.
The programme is designed to move learners through the full journey of entrepreneurship, from a single idea to a working business concept. It reflects the Foundation’s belief that young people from underserved communities are not short of ability. They simply need access to the right tools and the right opportunities.
The story continues on 18 July 2026, when the teams will return to pitch their finished concepts to judges. Awards will recognise the strongest work across five categories: Best Business Idea, Best Packaging, Most Creative Product, Best Pitch and Most Sustainable Idea.
For the Foundation, the partnership is a continuation of a decade of work and a cementing of the vision that has guided it since 2016.
Over the past ten years, the Temba Bavuma Foundation has awarded 12 scholarships at leading South African schools and supported three University of Pretoria graduates now working in law, corporate services and coaching. It has upgraded cricket facilities at three Gauteng schools, distributed more than 3,000 food parcels and meals to vulnerable communities, and placed its first professional cricket mentorship with a player now competing at senior level.
Temba Bavuma, Founder of the Temba Bavuma Foundation, said it was meaningful to see the vision take root in communities like Alexandra.
“Ten years ago, this Foundation started with a belief that talent is everywhere, but access is not. Seeing that belief come to life in a classroom in Alexandra, watching these young people discover what they are capable of building, is exactly what we set out to do,” he said.
“This partnership with St David’s and Empowered Futures is a reflection of everything we stand for. We are not lowering the bar for these learners. We are bringing the bar to them.”
From the cricket pitch to the classroom, the Foundation’s through line has remained the same. It finds talented young people in places the world tends to overlook, and it builds the bridge between their ability and their opportunity.
About the Temba Bavuma Foundation
Founded in 2016 by South African national cricket captain Temba Bavuma, the Temba Bavuma Foundation is committed to empowering young people from previously disadvantaged backgrounds through education, cricket and community development. The Foundation champions five core values: Access, Mentorship, Excellence, Growth and Change. For more information, visit www.tembabavumafoundation.com
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