ENACTUS is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to inspiring students to improve the world through entrepreneurial action. It provides a platform for teams of outstanding university students to create community development projects that place people's ingenuity and talents at the centre of improving their livelihoods.
Nkabinde, an Honours student in Political Science, stated that the recruitment drive aims to raise awareness and generate interest in ENACTUS, encouraging students to form teams and establish enterprises, develop community concepts, and compete against other universities throughout the year.
"We operate according to the global calendar, meaning our year began last September. Our focus for the new year was straightforward: to establish as many enterprises as possible. We aimed to participate in ENACTUS competitions with more than five enterprises each. Additionally, we planned to launch a business incubator to assist these enterprises in securing funding outside of ENACTUS competitions," he explained.
ENACTUS competitions provide a platform for teams from South African universities across different regions to showcase their social entrepreneurship projects and the progress they have made. These teams work on their enterprises to address social, economic, and environmental challenges in their communities.
In addition to competition, the Regional Competition facilitates connections among students, faculty advisors, and potential supporters, allowing participants to exchange knowledge, share best practices, and receive constructive feedback.
The ENACTUS team on a recruitment drive.
Nkabinde emphasized the opportunities that ENACTUS presents to students as an internationally recognized organization.
"These include networking and business funding opportunities through our competitions. ENACTUS sponsors such as MTN, Harmony Gold, and others offer graduate programmes for students who have completed their studies," he added.
UMP has achieved sterling performances in previous years while developing students' abilities to build winning enterprises. Last year, students developed and showcased remarkable initiatives such as Charcool Climate, which involved developing cooling systems using charcoal, fence, timber, and water for street vendors in Mbombela. These systems maintain temperatures 10°C lower than the outside temperature, reducing spoilage rates and extending the shelf-life of perishable goods. Charcool Climate is still at the conceptual stage, with implementation plans funded by competition winnings.
Another successful project, Seller’s Chart, excelled in the Regional Competition held at the University of Johannesburg in April, earning a spot among the top 12 teams competing at the National Exposition, where they ultimately secured fifth position.
Charcool Climate also achieved success in the 2022-23 Harmony Food & Health Security Challenge, ranking among the top six and receiving R12 000. Moreover, they were crowned this year's Harmony Food & Health Security Challenge Winner, earning an additional R15 000.
Nkabinde has been part of these successes and encourages other students to join ENACTUS to contribute value to communities.
"I joined in my first year and was elected Head of Public Relations. In my second year, I climbed to Secretary General, and now I serve as President. Joining in my first year allowed me to access these opportunities, which have taught me a lot about myself. The earlier you join ENACTUS, the more time you have to understand the organization and take advantage of the opportunities it presents," he concluded.
Story by Lisa Thabethe. Pictures supplied.