Just a day before commemorating the June 16 Soweto Students Uprising, Pat on Brands, a digital media platform that is always on the Pulse with Brands, announced the winners of its inaugural awards initiative – the Top 16 Youth-Owned Brands Awards (YOBA) brought to you by Sakhumnotho Group Holdings.  

The main aim of YOBA is to recognise South African youth-owned brands’ excellence, innovation and hard work across 16 categories. The honours were revealed and celebrated on the 15^th of June 2022 under the theme ‘Real Recognises Real’ at The Capital On the Park hotel in Sandton. 

The Top 16 Youth-Owned Brands is a Pat on Brands initiative aimed at shining a light on brands that are established and run by South Africans between the ages of 18 and 35. The brand recognises brands that operate in 16 categories. Why 16? June 16. The initiative is born from the notion that the youth of 1976 fought a political fight and the youth of today is fighting an economic one, they are building brands that are contributing to the economy of South Africa.