17 March 2025

Empowering the Next Generation

By Bellavista School

As South Africa marks Human Rights Month, The Elements, in partnership with Bellavista School and WeThePeopleSA, is launching the latest instalment of its educational series cantering on the topic of Constitutional Literacy

This second season of The Elements will premiere on 20 March 2025 at the Human Rights Festival at Constitution Hill, reinforcing the critical role of constitutional literacy and civic education in shaping the country’s future leaders.

The Elements is a pioneering project that equips young South Africans with essential life skills, constitutional knowledge, and social awareness. This second season builds on the success of Season 1: Building Grit, that featured South African cricketer Kagiso Rabada. Season 2 offers dynamic, curriculum-aligned content that helps educators and students engage with key constitutional principles in a relatable and practical way.

"Many young South Africans are unaware of their constitutional rights and responsibilities," says Cameron Scott, co-founder of the Kingdom Kome Creative Group (d.b.a. Kingdom) and Lead Producer of the series. "With The Elements, we’re bringing what we do best in entertainment to make these concepts engaging and accessible - bridging the gap between entertainment and practical education to drive real world impact."

This season features ten compelling episodes that address key democratic and human rights based themes, including:

• The Constitution - Understanding what our Constitution is and why we have one.
• Voting and Democracy – Understanding the power of the vote and its impact.
• Human Rights and Responsibilities – Exploring the Bill of Rights and active citizenship.
• Public Participation – Encouraging young people to engage with governance and environmental action.
• Community Engagement – Highlighting the power of collective action in society.

Ahead of the release of Season 2, The Elements launched the “OH HAY” social media campaign, where the team hit the streets of Johannesburg to ask South Africans about their knowledge of the Constitution and voting rights. The series went viral, garnering over a million views and highlighting the urgent need for greater civic education among young people.

“We have all been given this gift in the form of the Constitution and it’s startling that so many citizens don’t know how to mobilize their rights” says Mbali Baduza, CEO of WeThePeopleSA who partnered with Kingdom to produce this season. “Our goal is to educate our youth in a way that meets them where they are at in order to best equip them to be the active citizens our nation needs.”

The project is already making waves in schools. Karen Archer, Deputy Principal and Educational Psychologist at Bellavista School, emphasises the importance of teaching constitutional literacy at an early age. "If we want to empower future generations to be active and engaged citizens, we must start by ensuring they understand the principles of democracy and their role in upholding it."

The Human Rights Festival launch will bring together educators, students, and civic leaders to explore how innovative storytelling and digital resources can transform constitutional education. The Elements Season 2 aligns with the CAPS curriculum, making it an invaluable resource for schools across the country and can be accessed via the Bellavista SHARE online learning platform, with a free limited version to increase accessibility for all South Africans via social media

“We took learnings from Season 1 and now offer not only the comprehensive premium course via Bellavista SHARE, but have taken steps to make the basic concepts and content available to all via a free version and a planned one day workshop.” says Kagiso Rabada, co-founder of Kingdom and host of Season 1. 

The initiative is not only making an impact locally but is also gaining global recognition. The Elements recently was invited to the prestigious SXSW EDU festival in Austin, Texas, to share its unique approach to blending entertainment and education to effectively impart life skills education and drive meaningful impact in the attention economy of today. 

For more information, or to join the movement, visit https://bellavista.org.za/available-content/ or follow the conversation on social media, @theelements.ed (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube). To attend the launch of this programme on the 20th of March at Constitution Hill from 10:00 to 12:00 please RSVP by emailing Ongezwa@conhill.org or MonchoK@wethepeoplesa.org.

For media inquiries or interview requests, please contact:

Renee Schonborn on renee@littleblackbookpr.co.za