Wandile Mthiyane

Obama Leader, Social Entrepreneur and CEO of Ubuntu Design Group (UGD), Wandile Mthiyane, joins us in studio to tell us more about the social impact design projects his organisations focuses on and the work-live homes he builds for impactful women heading their own households.

Influenced by his childhood experiences growing up in post-apartheid South Africa, Wandile founded UDG on the core idea that if apartheid architecture could be used to segregate and oppress, then the community-led design should liberate and enable opportunities for all.
 
UDG developed the concept of the Ubuntu Home, a dignified work-live home designed to enable the families to financially sustain themselves, as well as to empower the local community. Mthiyane is also the founder and director of Ubuntu Architecture Summer Abroad, an intercollegiate educational experience in which students learn a community-centered approach to impacting large communities by designing and building dignified and culturally-influenced housing for resilient families.
 
In 2017, UDG built their pilot project, which was a home for a low-income Durban-based family also struggling to live in their current dwelling with a disability. This inspired the designers of UDG to develop their unique model in a way that would facilitate future projects with more public and private companies.

Instagram: @ubuntudesigngroup