Executive director: Equal Education Law Centre

Dmitri Holtzman

Basic education may be the field Dmitri Holtzman works in but it’s not the outcome he is after. Holtzman didn’t serve as the parliamentary liaison officer for Equal Education to watch education laws get passed and not properly implemented. Nor did he become the executive director of the newly formed Equal Education Law Centre to ensure access to adequate education.

He may be 25, but this law graduate knows that our progressive Constitution promises all South Africans equal access to quality education. It’s all part of his social activism, which started at university when he chaired Students for Law and Social Justice and re-established the Street Law Project, helping law students to educate high- school learners from township areas about law and human rights. His job is challenging and the issues are complex but Holtzman has the one thing millions of South Africans don’t — the backing of a quality education.

— Cat Pritchard

Twitter: @Dmitriholtzman