Why Harvard values impact over academic marks for South Africa's youth

When South Africans talk about Harvard, the conversation usually ends with numbers. Distinctions. Percentages. Rankings. We assume that admission to the world’s most prestigious universities is a mathematical exercise — a straight line from flawless transcripts to global opportunity.

Sazi Bongwe’s story disrupts that comforting myth. Yes, Sazi achieved an extraordinary 95.9% aggregate. Yes, he earned nine distinctions. But those marks alone did not open the gates of Harvard. What did was Ukuzibuza — an online platform he built to address injustices faced by South African youth.

Harvard did not simply admit a high achiever. It admitted a builder. This distinction matters far beyond one exceptional young South African. It exposes a deeper flaw in how we, as a country, think about education, talent, and leadership potential.

The Credentials Trap

Having coached leaders across five continents, I have seen the same pattern repeat itself across organisations, governments, and education systems: we obsess over credentials while overlooking capability.

Degrees become proxies for competence. Transcripts stand in for curiosity. Certificates substitute for contribution. In this world, success is measured by what you accumulate rather than what you create.

Leading global institutions, however, operate by a different logic. As Rebecca Pretorius from Crimson Education, who guided Sazi through applications to Harvard, Stanford, and Yale, puts it: “Top American universities look for students who demonstrate academic potential and are intellectually curious, passionate, and innovative.”

Read that carefully. The question is not “How well did you perform within the system?” It is “What did you do with what you learned?” The world’s top universities are not searching for perfect students. They are searching for future shapers of society.

From Marks to Meaning

Sazi’s academic record got him noticed. Ukuzibuza got him accepted. The platform was not a school assignment designed to secure marks. It was a response to lived reality — to injustice, exclusion, and structural gaps that young South Africans experience every day. It was built not because a syllabus demanded it, but because a problem existed. That distinction is everything.

Admissions officers are acutely trained to spot the difference between performative excellence and purposeful action. They are less impressed by flawless compliance than by early evidence of agency. Sazi demonstrated that he does not wait for permission to lead. He identifies problems and builds solutions. That is precisely what institutions like Harvard are selecting for — because that is what the world increasingly rewards.

The Formula Leading Global Institutions Use

Strip away the mythology, and a clear pattern emerges in who gains access to top global institutions. First, academic foundation still matters. Strong marks signal discipline, cognitive ability, and resilience. They show that a student can handle intellectual rigour. But marks are only the entry ticket — not the deciding factor.

Second comes intellectual curiosity. This is not about memorising content, but about questioning assumptions, connecting disciplines, and thinking independently. It is about learning beyond what is taught.

Third — and most decisive — is real-world impact. Has the individual created something that exists beyond their transcript? Have they tested their ideas in the real world? Have they taken responsibility for improving something they did not cause? Ukuzibuza demonstrated all three.

What This Means for South Africa

There is a quiet but powerful shift underway among South African youth. The most ambitious are no longer content to collect credentials alone. They are building platforms, launching initiatives, and addressing social challenges while still in school. While some polish CVs, others prototype solutions.

This is not accidental. Young South Africans are growing up in a context where problems are visible, urgent, and personal. Those who succeed globally are not those who escape this reality, but those who engage with it creatively.

Harvard did not see a future law or politics student in Sazi. It saw a young man who will use those disciplines as tools — not trophies. It saw continuity between what he has already built and what he will build next.

The Leadership Question We Must Ask

This story should challenge more than students. It should challenge business leaders, policymakers, and educators. If leading global institutions are selecting for builders rather than box-tickers, why are our systems still rewarding compliance over creativity? Why do our organisations recruit for qualifications while complaining about a lack of initiative, innovation, and courage?

At every level of leadership, the question has shifted.

Not: Where did you study?

But: What have you built?

Not: What do you know?

But: What have you applied?

Not: What did you score?

But: What changed because you showed up?

Sazi Bongwe’s journey reminds us that the path to global opportunity does not run through perfect marks alone. It runs through early proof of purpose. And that is a lesson South Africa — a country rich in problems and even richer in potential — can no longer afford to ignore. Because the future does not belong to the most credentialed. It belongs to those who started building before anyone asked them to.

Dr Nik Eberl is the founder & Executive Chair: The Future of Jobs Summit™ (Official T20 Side Event). He is author: Nation of Champions: How South Africa won the World Cup of Destination Branding

*** The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Independent Media or IOL.

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