Teen Innovator Reimagines Safety Technology to Help Combat Violence
At just 16 years old, South African student Bohlale Mphahlele from Limpopo captured global attention with her “Alerting Earpiece” — a safety concept she developed as a school project at SJ van der Merwe Technical High School. While it’s important to clarify that she did not build new underlying technology from scratch, her work showed how existing tech could be combined in a new way to help vulnerable people.
South Africa faces one of the highest rates of gender-based violence (GBV) in the world, with official reports noting over 120,000 violent crimes against women and children reported annually, and many more going unreported due to fear or stigma. It was this context that inspired Mphahlele to think about how everyday devices could be repurposed for safety.
Her concept — the Alerting Earpiece — looks like an ordinary earring but is imagined as a wearable safety tool. By pressing a hidden button, the device would quietly capture a photo of an attacker and send an alert with the wearer’s live GPS location to trusted contacts and emergency services.
Recognition and Impact
Mphahlele presented her idea at the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists, one of South Africa’s key platforms for youth innovation, where she won a bronze medal in the engineering-electronics category.
Judges and education leaders praised her for responding to a pressing social crisis with practical, people-centred thinking. As she noted, “Technology shouldn’t just make life convenient; it should also protect the vulnerable.”
Although the idea is still moving toward real-world engineering and mass producibility — including seeking technical partners and funding — the value of her contribution lies in identifying a clear need and proposing a feasible way to use technology for safety.
Why This Matters
Bohlale Mphahlele’s Alerting Earpiece may not yet be a finished product on the market, but it demonstrates how creative problem-solving can turn existing technology into tools that help protect people. In a world where violence continues to disproportionately affect women and children, such ideas — grounded in empathy and innovation — are powerful forces for change.
