Intwana Yase Kasi – Innovation Challenge 2026

Intwana Yase Kasi – Innovation Challenge 2026 is a beginner-friendly innovation hackathon designed to empower township youth, creatives, and aspiring technologists to solve real-world problems through technology, art, and creative thinking. This challenge focuses on everyday issues faced in townships and local communities such as transport, safety, events, small businesses, education, and creative economies and encourages participants to build practical, meaningful, and culturally relevant solutions. The hackathon is structured as a “slow hack”, giving beginners enough time to learn, experiment, and build confidently, while still maintaining professional standards for submissions and evaluation. Who Can Participate: Open to students, recent graduates, self-taught learners, and beginners. Open to participants from South Africa and beyond. Individual participants or teams of 1–4 members. No prior hackathon experience required. Artists, designers, developers, and creatives are all welcome. What You Can Build: Participants are encouraged to build projects across one or more of the following tracks: Technology - Websites, web apps, mobile apps; Simple tools, platforms, bots, or dashboards. Art & Media - Visual design concepts; Music, sound, or media-based digital experiences; Creative storytelling platforms. Community Solutions - Tools for schools, spaza shops, NGOs, event organisers; Solutions addressing safety, transport, gigs, or local services. Projects do not need to be fully commercial products, working prototypes and strong concepts are encouraged. What You Will Gain: Hands-on experience solving real community problems. A portfolio-ready project for your CV, GitHub, or personal website. Feedback from mentors and judges. Recognition from Intwana Yase Kasi. Certificates and public exposure on Intwana platforms. Experience working in teams, pitching ideas, and presenting solutions.