Vilane and fellow mountaineer, Alex Harris, embarked on an unsupported and unassisted trek to reach the South Pole which, when they completed the expedition on 17 January 2008, made Vilane and Harris the first South Africans to walk to the South Pole and Vilane the black person to do so. Seven Summits timeline Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa) 1999 Mount Everest (Asia) 2003 – South and 2005 – North Aconcagua (South America) 2006 Mount Elbrus (Europe) 2006 Carstensz Pyramid (Oceania) 2006 Vinson Massif (Antarctica) 2006 Denali/Mount McKinley (North America) 2008 North Pole expedition Vilane arrived at the geographic North Pole on 12 April 2012. This is the final hurdle to becoming the first black person to complete the Three Poles Challenge. This expedition was dubbed The Goliath Challenge and sponsored by Virgin Money Insurance. In completion of the Three Poles Challenge and the Seven Summits, Vilane has also become the first African to have accomplished Explorers Grand Slam, an elite title earned only by a handful around the world. Humanitarian work As a professional speaker, his message is simple: every person has their own "Everest" to climb. Whether you're prepared for it or not, it's there – challenging you to reach the top and if he can do that in the most dangerous and inhospitable of conditions and against all the odds so, he suggests, can others. Since 2006, Vilane has been the African ambassador for Lifeline Energy (formerly the Free Play Foundation). He dedicated the 1,113 kilometres he trekked to the South Pole to the children of South Africa. In May 2008, as a result of this act and hundreds of sponsors supporting Vilane, Lifeline Energy was able to provide 300 Lifeline radios to children from the Nkomazi district, where Vilane was born. In 2013 Sibusiso became an official Ambassador to the Mandela Bangle programme, which benefits the Mandela Day School Library campaign through funds raised from bangle sales and donations to his "Participate for Good Expeditions". "The future entirely depends on the education of children, their access to information to broaden their thinking and understanding of the ever-changing and challenging world" says Vilane. Vilane is also a patron of the Global Offering (GO) projects and is an eco ambassador for Indalo Yethu, a government organisation which strives to raise awareness about the environment. Vilane founded a running club called Born to Win. He has also hosted a radio show My