​Lerato Mailoane
The Gauteng Provincial Government has a critical mandate to support social entrepreneurship to lead the change towards societal issues while boosting economic growth.
"Social entrepreneurship is a catalyst that balances social impact and financial gain in business and the community at large. 
"It is the cog that is required at the heart of public-private partnerships to resolve the challenges of redress, economic exclusion and unemployment especially among women, youth and people with disabilities," says Gauteng MEC for Economic Development Parks Tau.
Tau was speaking at the SAB Foundation Social Innovation and Disability Empowerment Awards that aim to find, support and scale social innovations.
This year, over R16 million was awarded to 28 finalists to provide the funding and support they need to see their businesses grow and thrive.
Siyanda Mthethwa, founder of Kuloola, was the overall winner in the SAB Foundation Social Innovation Award while Ernest Majenge, creator of the Ruby Wheel Chair, walked away with the first prize in the Disability Empowerment Awards Category. Both innovations will receive R1.3 million in funding.
Kuloola, South Africa's first rural online grocery store, is powered by a sophisticated navigation app that maps rural households and provides households and spaza shops with a delivery service in underserved rural areas.
"I am thrilled to have been awarded first place and am so excited to take my business to even greater heights," says Mthethwa. 
"Through the rollout of my app, I aim to reduce transport costs and solve challenges associated with getting large food orders to households which will really benefit my community. As a social innovator, it is all about improving the lives of others."
Ruby Wheelchair is an innovation that allows people with reduced mobility to contribute to the propulsion of their wheelchair to navigate stairs.
"Winning this award will give me the opportunity to make a notable difference in the lives of people living with a disability," says Majenge.
"With my innovation, my aim is to create inclusion for people with reduced mobility by giving them access to tools that will enable them to move more freely."
Congratulating the winners, Tau said the winners have risen above the technical recession, the recent civil unrest and the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We congratulate you for being solution-based in your approaches to business. I believe that the awards will help you scale up and increase the impact your ventures have in our communities.
"You should remain the light that you are to others and keep inspiring hope to our nation and the people of Gauteng in particular," added Tau.