Anamandla Zweni
Mandela University LLB student Inathi Memka was also named among the Top 100 students.
The GradStar programme recognises South Africa’s most employable students based on leadership, adaptability, and problem-solving skills.
More than 7 000 students from 25 South African universities entered the awards and were narrowed from the Top 500 to the Top 100, and finally to the Top 10.
Anamandla completed a Diploma in IT (Software Development) at Mandela University in 2024.
He will also be graduating cum laude with a BTech/Advanced Diploma in ICT (Applications Development) from CPUT in April this year, and is currently studying for a Postgraduate Diploma in ICT (Artificial Intelligence & Data Science) at CPUT.
“I beIieve the secret to my success was a solid foundation of leadership and structured problem-solving. During my studies at Mandela University, I explored and actively participated in international leadership programmes, namely the McKinsey Forward Program and the Aspire Leaders Program (sponsored by Harvard Business School).”
These programmes helped him develop adaptive leadership, problem-solving, and effective communication skills, he says.
Anamandla recently applied for an MSc in Financial Engineering at an online, nationally accredited American university and was accepted after achieving 93% in the Quantitative Proficiency Entrance Exam. He is currently in the pre-matriculation phase of the programme.
During GradStar Week in Johannesburg, students participated in time-limited business problem-solving workshops with sponsor companies. Anamandla attributes his success to his ability to combine technical and analytical expertise with visionary leadership.
Anamandla is 21 years old and matriculated at Hillside Technical High School in Gqeberha. He enjoys applying computational methods in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, particularly research. His BTech/Advanced Diploma mini-thesis focused on Computational Biomedicine: Using Machine Learning to Predict and Classify Drug-like Molecules for the Treatment of Sickle Cell Disease.
His career goal is to become a Financial Engineer or Quantitative Analyst, working at the intersection of finance and technology, with an interest in quantum-inspired machine learning for optimising trading and financial systems.
He is also working on a tech startup, Aeonium Technologies, aimed at helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) use financial data to grow their businesses through accessible technology and innovation.