Similo Siyenga, a dedicated Unisa student from Pretoria, has been honoured as the Young Leader of the Year at the 2025 Sasol SuperLead Awards.
Siyenga’s recognition places him alongside esteemed senior executives from top corporations like PwC and Legends Barber, highlighting his exceptional impact on community transformation and youth empowerment.
From Compassion to Action: M-Powerment Care
Siyenga’s leadership journey began in 2021 as a direct response to the urgent community needs following the COVID-19 outbreak.
What started as a compassionate effort to feed the homeless evolved into M-Powerment Care, a structured social impact organization focused on:
- Access to quality education
- Youth development initiatives
- Community upliftment projects
Through strategic partnerships and its subsidiary, M-Powerment Recruitment, the organization has expanded its reach to include government project support, marketing, and food drives.
Balancing Engineering and Empowerment
Siyenga’s achievement is particularly remarkable as he balances rigorous academic demands with his leadership roles. He is currently completing a Civil Engineering degree at Unisa while simultaneously pursuing a Quantity Surveying degree at the University of Pretoria.
“The Unisa curriculum has had a significant role in fostering the growth of my analytical thinking and systematic problem-solving skills necessary to offer practical answers to difficult social problems,” Siyenga explains. He credits Unisa’s flexible structure for enabling him to pursue his studies while leading impactful community initiatives.
A Sustainable Circle of Empowerment
For Siyenga, the national award is not just personal recognition, but confirmation of a leadership style grounded in accountability and sustainability.
“My goal goes beyond individual assistance to creating and establishing a self-sustaining circle of empowerment,” he says. “Leadership is about using one’s education, skills, and influence to create opportunities for others.”
