A 16-year-old from Limpopo built an “Alerting Earpiece”, which is now award-winning and has been widely reported.
In situations where reaching for a phone is unsafe or impossible, this covert earring protects women and girls by concealing a camera, GPS tracker, and emergency alarm system.
With one hidden press, it can silently photograph or record video of an attacker, send live GPS location to trusted contacts and emergency services. It also transmits distress alerts without any visible movement and captures evidence, including images, timestamps and location, that strengthens prosecution.
This isn’t conceptual — she built a working prototype and presented it at the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists, earning national recognition.
South Africa’s gender‑based violence crisis is severe, and 1 in 3 women have experienced physical violence and 120,000-plus cases of violent crimes against women and children are reported annually.
It was commended by experts for integrating discreet activation, real-time notifications, and evidence collection—functions that are seldom combined into a single wearable.
Her invention has been featured on BBC Africa, SABC Morning Live, and Metro FM, and she won a bronze medal at the Eskom Expo and received praise from Limpopo’s Education MEC, who called her a “role model and change‑maker.”
She later founded Mphahlele Alerts (Pty) Ltd to commercialise the device and integrate it into national emergency systems.
This isn’t just a clever gadget — it’s a young woman refusing to accept a violent status quo, and her work is now sparking conversations across Africa about youth-led safety tech, GBV prevention, and the importance of discreet tools for victims.
She has created an incredible invention, but it’s also sad that girls need this to survive; nevertheless, she has essentially built a wearable panic button that collects evidence.
This clever device needs to be rolled out internationally, and schools should give these out to girls for free. Now people want the device for their daughters because it gives them hope that their children will be safer, and it just shows how deeply personal the issue is. People aren’t just impressed; they’re emotionally invested, and this is the mother of invention.
Whilst it is amazing, the fact that it was even needed in the first place is alarming, but still I believe it’s needed in every town, every state, every country because there are some extremely sick people in this world. It’s kind of like insurance; we don’t need it until we need it.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 