Eastern Cape born rocket scientist and Harvard graduate, 26-year year old Siyabulela Xuza says that the greatest minds come from the Eastern Cape province.
Xuza was speaking at a Seda Nelson Mandela Bay ICT incubtor event celebrating National Incubation Day taking place across the country on Monday.
The young scientist who grew up in a rural community near Mthatha also has a planet named after him and has had his work recognised by US First Lady Michelle Obama.
In a video played out at Monday's event, the US First Lady said that people like Xuza and her husband US President Barack Obama are living proof of what Nelson Mandela said about the need for education.
"He invented his own rocket fuel and won all kinds of awards where his been developing new energy technologies to power Africa and save our planet. You see Siya and President Obama and so many others in South Africa and the United States, they are living proof of what the legendary South African President Nelson Mandela once said- education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
Xuza explains why after his success he chose to return to South Africa to start an energy company.
"We have all the resources in this province, from state of the art universities like Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, we've got incubators here, and the most important thing we have the greatest minds coming out of this province, which is why I decided to come back to South Africa. I came back to South Africa last year and I've started an energy company, Galactic Energy Ventures, and in forming a partnership with one of the worlds largest company's, I'm now developing my innovations from South Africa to the rest of the world because I truly believe in the tremendous potential we have." says Xuza.
