Tshaamano Mabuba
Nominee's Province:
Gauteng
Age:
22
Project Name/Description:
Tshaamano Mabuba has always excelled academically. She was head girl at both primary and high school, and the young Limpopo-born woman later went to UCT to study actuarial science. However, she was troubled by academic inequality and decided to do something about it. Today the 22-year-old is the owner of an education tech start-up called Buddy Learning, which makes high-quality academic support accessible and affordable by linking learners to tutors. A little over four years later, Buddy Learning has helped over 10 000 users and employs 70 tutors. Buddy Learning has now expanded to include BuddyAI, a multilingual AI tutor available on WhatsApp. She says the additional support, in their mother tongue, gives learners confidence to face challenging lessons and exams. In 2025 Tshaamano’s perseverance paid off when she was recognised in the MTN Youth Hustle Hub competition. The prize was R100 000, but the entrepreneur says the true value lay in the recognition she received.
