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#Coding4Mandela World Champs

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“Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farmworkers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.”- Nelson Mandela

YOUNG people from across the world will tomorrow [July 5] be #Coding4Mandela on the tenth anniversary of the passing of former president Nelson Mandela.

Tangible Africa Founder and Head of the Department and Associate Professor at the Nelson Mandela University Computing Sciences Department, Prof Jean Greyling, explains that Tangible Africa is an engagement project of the university in partnership with the Leva Foundation – spreading coding skills to as many children as possible across the world. “Being from Nelson Mandela University, and with Nelson Mandela’s lifelong focus on education, it was an obvious choice to honour his legacy,” said Greyling.

For the past seven years Tangible Africa has hosted the #Coding4Mandela coding tournament on Mandela Day, July 18, which is Nelson Mandela’s birthday. This year 16 000 learners participated at 70 sites across South Africa, as well as several other African countries.
 
“For the Northern Hemisphere 18 July does not work because of their summer holidays. So, since 2022 we have had a follow-up event on 5 December. Last year it was a two-way battle between teams from SA and Ireland. This year we have expanded our footprint, and consequently we have decided to call it the #Coding4Mandela World Champs, a virtual tournament with 55 teams from 21 countries participating,” said Greyling.

Some of the teams are from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Ireland, England, Germany, Estonia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Cyprus and Norh Macedonia.
 
“The main hub will be in Gqeberha where one team will play, and from where we will be interacting with teams from across the world via Zoom. In South Africa the other sites are Cape Town, Durban and Ladismith”.

Local teams participating were selected on their performance during the Mandela Day event earlier this year.

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