Siyabulela Xuza- His Story Has Really Just Begun

Siyabulela Xuza’s story has really just begun. He is merely twenty years old and already has created an international stir. When he was eighteen years old and in Matric, he won two grand awards at the 58^th Intel International Science and Engineering Fair which was held in New Mexico.

His awards were in the Energy and Transportation category, and his project was a revolutionary cheaper rocket fuel. He is quoted as saying that when he discovered the amount of money spent on rocket fuels which could be better spent on other projects such as AIDS/HIV research, he decided to figure out a way to make them cheaper. In return for this innovative thinking not only did he win at the Fair but the Nasa-affiliated Lincoln Laboratory named a minor planet after him. Planet 23182 discovered in 2000 -just around the time Xuza became serious about rocketry- is now known as Siyaxuza and is found in the main asteroid belt near Jupiter with an orbital period of 4, 01 years.

Xuza’s love for science started in 1994 in Umtata where he remembers following a Cessna plane which was dropping off election pamphlets. From there he began to build rockets in his mother’s kitchen and remembers once mixing the fuel incorrectly and having a mini-explosion which thankfully caused no real damage but did cause a mess.

From there his family moved to Johannesburg where he attained a scholarship to attend St. John’s College where his love for science was further nurtured. With the guidance of teachers he built the Phoenix; a rocket which reached the height of 1 220 metres. This was done in 2003. He was fourteen at the time and with this achievement he won the Eskom National Science Expo as well as breaking the South African Amateur Altitude Record.

After matriculating, Xuza went on to study chemical engineering at the University Of Cape Town, until he received the news that he had been granted a bursary to study at Harvard.

While he studies science he says he wants to further grow in other respects. In his own words, “I’m learning to speak Mandarin, which keeps me up in the wee hours. I believe the relationship between China and SA will grow and would like to be able to facilitate communication between both countries in the area of energy. I want to be multi dimensional: educated in the West with strong African roots but with a clear understanding of the East.”

Siyabulela Xuza is truly an African Renaissance man, educating himself in natural and social sciences and with a positive outlook on the impact himself and his generation will have upon the world and South Africa.