Born leader Dubasi makes waves abroad
● Rising talent from Despatch dazzles at US, Ghana summits
Xabiso Dubasi left the annual Obama Foundation African Leadership Summit in Washington DC, in the US, in July on a high note.
The young man from Khayamnandi, Despatch, moved on to the International Youth Diplomacy conference in Accra, Ghana, where he again made his presence felt.
As a result, SA could host the conference in 2020.
And as if that is not enough, upon his return to SA, the 24-year-old received an invitation to attend October’s Dubai leadership summit, where he has been nominated to receive an honorary doctorate from the London Graduate School together with the Commonwealth University.
Dubasi said his travels had exceeded his expectations and attributed his success at the events to his “dominating” approach.
“I have this belief that if you don’t dominate during a conference or a summit, no-one will want to network with you,” he said.
At the Obama Foundation Summit, Dubasi was one of 200 young African leaders attending the leadership workshop.
One of the leaders who gave a lecture at the programme was the former director of speech-writing for then US president Barack Obama, Jonathan Edward Favreau, who Dubasi said had inspired him to change his own leadership approach.
“We were taught various leadership styles, such as leadership of self and leadership of others,” he said.
“We were also lectured on managing businesses’ finances and PR as well as how to start a sustainable organisation.
“One leadership style that resonated with me is one I call the ‘Joseph style of leadership’.”
It mainly focuses on sacrificing everything to ensure that vulnerable people’s needs are well taken care of.
“As a leader [I believe] you must be found where the people are,” he said.
Dubasi said on the last day of leadership training in Washington, the organisers asked him to give a vote of thanks.
“I gave a vote of thanks to the organisers and then I concluded by challenging the African leaders that were at the gala dinner,” he said.
Thereafter he jetted off to the International Youth Diplomacy conference, where he had been elected to lead a delegation of 10 South Africans.
He said the conference was one of the most interesting he had attended.
Dubasi again applied his “dominate” approach, leading informal discussions outside the conference, and sharing his love of music.
“We were the soul of the conference,” he said.
“We led in song, lifted the spirits of the delegates and when it came to committee discussions, South Africa shone. We were on fire.”
The active involvement of the group earned it the award of best-organised delegation.
The conference is modelled on a United Nations conference style where delegates simulate everything that happens in an actual UN conference.
“The discussion we had and ideas that were tabled will be taken to the UN for consideration,” Dubasi said.
He said the SA delegation, with the support of most of the other countries, went on to make a proposal to host next year’s youth conference.
“They were sold, and asked that we submit a formal proposal by the end of September,” he said.
Dubasi said they were in conversation with delegates from Namibia, Zimbabwe and Swaziland at the conference on possibly hosting it in Pretoria.
He is co-founder of the Nakhane Despatch Society Club, which seeks to cultivate young leaders in Khayamnandi.
Asked about how he intended to apply the lessons he learnt abroad, Dubasi said he would change the club’s constitution to be more inclusive.
“I attended these conferences as a member of Nakhane Despatch Society Club, and the first thing I did when I got back was have a meeting with my partners.
“My vision for the organisation is to be a light-bearer of Despatch first, before it spreads to other parts of the region.”
He said the club would start offering organisational support to businesses in the area.