Zayaan Abdurahman had never been on an aeroplane. She had never set foot outside South Africa. But the Mondale High School learner, who travelled to the United States with the backing of a community fundraising effort, has come home with a gold medal from the world’s longest-running space-engineering competition for schools.

Seven high school learners from the Western Cape made history by winning the International Space Settlement Design Competition at the international finals held at Nasa‘s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was South Africa’s first-ever entry in the competition.

After the win, Zayaan said she was extremely glad to have represented her country.

“I’m extremely glad that I got to represent South Africa and make them proud as a country by coming home with gold,” she said. “And not even just South Africa, the entire African continent, because we were the only African team there.

“I’m grateful that I got to share this experience with my teammates and students from around the world.”

A first for Africa

The seven learners, known as Team ZA, were selected through the first South Africa Space Design Competition held at the University of Cape Town. They were the only African team in the international finals.

The team members are Zayaan (Mondale High School), Joseph Allderman (Westerford High School), Benjamin Honigwachs (Bishops Diocesan College), Alaya Kaplen (Cannons Creek Independent School), Qayalah Omar (Cannons Creek Independent School), Ethan Schoombee (Fairmont High School) and Dean Weich (Bishops Diocesan College).

Zayaan was among only two learners from public schools to make up the team and was the only pupil from the Cape Flats.

At the finals the South African learners joined participants from the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, China and the United States to form a team called Rockdonnell. It was the first team in the competition’s history to include representatives from every inhabited continent.

Their winning design, called Hermes, was for a spacecraft that could transport 3 000 people across the inner Solar System, the region of space occupied by the planets closest to the sun.

Key roles and a top prize

Each learner played a different role in the competition. Qayalah served as a presenter, while Benjamin, Joseph and Ethan answered questions from the judges about the team’s design.

Joseph also received the Anita Gale Creative Genius Prize, one of only four awarded across the entire competition.

“Team ZA worked so cohesively together that we all deserved this award,” he said. “I was just the one who got picked to represent it.”

Words of recognition

Acting Provincial Minister for Education Anton Bredell congratulated the team.

“On behalf of the Western Cape Government I congratulate these remarkable young South Africans on their achievement,” he said. “Their success is a powerful reminder that South African learners have the talent, determination and creativity to compete with the very best in the world when they are given the opportunity.”

Jagger Cooper-Doubell, chair and executive director of the South Africa Space Design Competition, said the achievement proved that South Africa’s talent could compete with the best in the world.

“The talent was never missing in South Africa,” he said. “The opportunity was.”

Looking ahead

Following the win, the competition plans to expand nationally. Regional events are scheduled for the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal in 2027, with the aim of reaching all nine provinces. Entries for the 2027 South African season open later this year.

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