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BY Nkosazana Ngwadla and Moma Molabe

University of Johannesburg (UJ) Strategic Communication student Moma Molabe reflects on winning the University Scholars Leadership Symposium (USLS) competition. This competition was focused on creating socially meaningful projects that address climate change, poverty, and inequality. Moma’s essay focused on the issue of unemployment in South Africa and ways to create job opportunities through utilising remote jobs and exploring space science and rocket exploration.

The University Scholars Leadership Symposium (USLS), is Humanitarian Affairs Asia’s signature program, and a competition that I entered with great eagerness and a burning desire to inspire students and youth to believe in their dreams of being the next generation to shape the future. My goal was to address the social and economic challenges faced by my home country, South Africa, and find ways to bring about positive change and contribute towards solving issues such as unemployment.

The competition entry: Focusing on unemployment and technology

The topic of my competition entry focused on unemployment and strategies to create job opportunities, as well as the changing landscape of the world with a focus on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and technology. I emphasised the potential of utilising remote jobs that are being advertised, and how South Africa could compete in space science and rocket exploration.

Furthermore, I highlighted the support of the United States of America and other developing countries in creating a deep space ground station, which could pave the way for South Africa to make significant advancements in this field. It is a considered view that South Africa has the potential to create its own national space administration centre (NASA).

Goals of the program: Empowering young leaders to create socially meaningful projects

The competition is taking place in Bangkok, Thailand, and the program is aimed to foster the initiative and capacity of young leaders to create socially meaningful projects that address climate change, poverty, and inequality. The collaboration of United Nations agencies and partner government departments empowered delegates like me to start up projects that contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

As part of the competition requirements, we were asked to write a 1000-word essay on how South African youth can contribute to bringing about positive social change in their local communities, South Africa, and the world. I poured my heart and soul into the essay, outlining innovative ideas and practical solutions to tackle unemployment and drive socio-economic progress in my country.

During the competition, I knew I was competing with powerful like-minded students who are competitive from the Faculty of Humanities who shared their own unique perspectives and ideas. The exchange of my thoughts and insights was enriching and further fuelled my determination to make a meaningful impact in my community and beyond.

Winning the competition: Feeling immense pride and honour

I am overjoyed and ecstatic to receive the news that I had been selected as the winner of the competition. It is a moment of immense pride and honour, knowing that my efforts and ideas have been recognised. The prospect of traveling to Thailand for the program, which will be taking place from August 1st to August 4th, filled me with excitement and anticipation.

As I prepare for my journey to Thailand, I feel a sense of purpose and responsibility. I am eager to learn from other like-minded individuals, engage in meaningful discussions, and further refine my ideas on how to address the social and economic challenges faced by my country. I am determined to make the most of this opportunity and amplify towards shaping a brighter future for South Africa and the world.

Gratitude to supporters and selection committee

In conclusion, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to UJ Associate Professor in Strategic Communications, Professor Corne Meintjes, and Lecturer Ms Seriane Morapeli, for their support and encouragement. They shared their own experiences and challenges and helped me to develop my leadership and problem-solving skills. Their insights into the industry were particularly helpful in my preparation for the competition. I would also like to thank the members of the selection committee who were tirelessly evaluating hundreds of submissions that were presented to them for adjudication.

Source and image: University of Johannesburg

BY Nkosazana Ngwadla

Obakeng Rantlhane is establishing himself as a household name in the South African fashion and media space.

At 25 years old, he is a seasoned stylist and creative, and recently worked with Bonang Matheba and Swanky Jerry for the second season of the hit Netflix show, Young, Famous & African (YFA).

Starting out in the Marketing space and then transitioning into styling, Rantlhane is business- minded as much as he is an artist. He is the founder of lifestyle platform, Guide – placing him at the forefront of all things fashion and luxury.

He is known for his “quiet-luxury” aesthetic, made up of clean lines, balanced proportions, refined tailoring, and minimalistic essence. “My style is really a lot but it’s nothing. It’s simple yet loud; low-key yet noticeable,” he explains.

Over the years, he has cultivated an impressive list of celebrity clients and headed up a number of high-profile projects. He was previously the head stylist for Living the Dream with Somizi and has worked with the likes of Pearl Thusi and Thandiswa Mazwai.

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When it comes to his styling inspiration, Rantlhane says that being constantly surrounded by larger-than-life personalities is something he revels in. “When I have a client, I like to study their behaviour; what they like and don’t like, and create customised mood boards according to what I see them in. I live in my little fairytale head and enjoy creating characters for people,” he says.

As one of the country’s most prominent luxury connoisseur’s, Rantlhane’s biggest style tip is to make sure things fit. “When things fit, they look luxurious; they look like they were made for you. There’s nothing more attractive than a well-tailored pair of pants or jacket.”

Image: Instagram

Nkosazana Ngwadla

Black Brain Pictures has revealed the cast for its upcoming telenovela Isitha, The Enemy, which is set to premiere on e.tv. The series will feature a talented ensemble of dynamic actors who will bring to life the compelling second chapter in the Sokhulu family saga that was introduced to viewers in The Black Door. Viewers will watch as they face new challenges and new rivals while striving to stay united amid adversity.

In this new chapter, Thobani Nzuza makes a dazzling return as Chuma Sokhulu, while fan-favourite and star Zamani Mbatha will reprise his role as Khaya Sokhulu. Other beloved characters from the first chapter who will return include the likes of Rebecca Mabuza played by legendary actress Linda Sebezo and Nomsa Sokhulu played by Velephi Khumalo.

Award-winning actress, Dawn Thandeka King makes her e.tv debut as Royal Chieftess Nomcebo Ngwenya from the eSwatini, royal household and she is joined by Khanyisani Kheswa as Mbuso Ngwenya as well as Kabelo Thai as Pheko Motaung.

Catch the Isitha, The Enemy premiere on Monday 22 May 2023 at 9.30PM on e.tv.

Full Cast List

1. Linda Sebezo  – Rebecca Mabuza
2. Zamani Mbatha – Khaya Sokhulu
3. Velephi Mnisi –  Nomsa Sokhulu
4. Thobani Nzuza – Chuma Sokhulu
5. Dawn Thandeka King – Nomcebo Ngwenya
6. Kere Nyawo – Bulelani Sokhulu
7. Sibonginkosi Tenza – Nandi Sokhulu
8. Sibulele Ntlebi – Nolitha Sokhulu
9. Nonkululeko Mbatha – Thenji Sokhulu
10. Kwanda Manyathi – Velaphi Sokhulu
11. Nolwazi Kweyama –  Enhle Mvubu
12. Khanyisani Kheswa – Mbuso Ngwenya
13. Kabelo Thai – Pheko Motaung
14. Nonhlanhla Ngubeni – Matshidiso Mkhabela
15. Dikeledi Modupu –  Nelly
16. Ontiretse Radipabe – Martha

Image: Supplied

BY Nkosazana Ngwadla

The Gert-Johan Coetzee name continues to expand on the international stage.

The latest person to stun in a design by atelier is singer and actress Chloe Bailey, at the world premiere of The Little Mermaid.

Chloe took to the blue carpet in an intricate dress from the South African designer’s 2022 spring/summer collection, Following the Sun.

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Another star who’s been seen rocking the dress is South Africa’s very own Queen B – style queen, Bonang Matheba.

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Image: Twitter

BY Nkosazana Ngwadla

The latest episode of Muvhango bids farewell to one of its most iconic characters, Chief Azwindinni Gandamipfa Mukwevho, portrayed by Gabriel Temudzani. This follows the heartbreaking scene where viewers of the hit television Soapie were left in shock after witnessing the tragic demise of Azwindinni in the most recent episode that aired on Friday, May 5th, 2023.

Chief Azwindinni, a much-respected leader was set aflame by Tenda who is avenging himself to all that put him in jail. The untimely death of the chief will leave the Mukwevho clan in shock and mourning and bring along with it a wave family drama expected to lead to chaos in the royal house.

The royal family will now be faced with the daunting task of navigating the aftermath of this tragedy, which is sure to be a challenging and emotional process. Tenda’s kidnapping of Susan (portrayed by Maumela Mahuwa) was the first domino in a chain reaction that ultimately led to the Chief’s death. After then, Tenda tampered with evidence to frame Azwindinni for Susan’s disappearance.

He then planned for Azwindinni to be arrested, but police were taken aback when DNA evidence established his innocence and no warrant had been issued for his arrest. This allowed Tenda to bring the chief into his presence before his ex-wife and the mother of his children, where he executed him ruthlessly.

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“Life is a collective and it’s well lived when it’s shared” says Gabriel Temudzani, who plays the role of Azwindinni. “The Chief of Thathe shall live forever”, he adds. The great Chief of Thathe is set to be laid to rest later in the month of May in accordance with the Royal family customs.

Image: Instagram

BY Nkosazana Ngwadla

Former Banyana Banyana player and captain, Lydia Monyepao has been appointed the new South African Football Association (SAFA) CEO following the resignation of Tebogo Motlanthe.

She was the association’s COO. Lady Skills as she was known in her playing days, was named CEO in a press conference called by SAFA president Danny Jordan on Monday in Johannesburg

Lydia is the first-ever female SAFA CEO, she holds various qualifications in Commerce, Accounting, as well as Sports Management and Leadership.

Addressing the media on Monday (8 May 2023) on her appointment, SAFA President Dr Jordaan said having worked for the organisation in several positions, the former Banyana Banyana player and South Africa senior women’s national team manager was well equipped for the job.

“We wish her all the best. Certainly at the SAFA Emergency Committee meeting yesterday (Sunday, 8 May 2023, the decision was unanimous. Everyone agreed to the appointment of Lydia Monyepao as the Chief Executive Officer of the South African Football Association. So, congratulations, and you have to hit the ground running. The first engagement is tomorrow (Tuesday, 9 May 2023) in Cape Town with the government,” the SAFA President said.

“She knows all the deadlines (for South Africa’s bid for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup) because  she has been working on all these matters anyway, and it is nothing new.”    

In her acceptance speech, Monyepao said she was aware of the challenges of the new role but was up to the task.

‘’It is big shoes that I am filling and I have to hit the ground running,” she said.

“I am capable of hitting the ground running, I will accept the task and take the work forward. I am not naïve in terms of what is required for this job. I know the challenges that surround any CEO of the South African Football Association, I am not blind to that.

“But as indicated, no job is easy and you have to take it as it comes and apply what you are good at, and what you are capable of. Thank you very much to the President and to the SAFA NEC for having  confidence in me and my abilities. My CV will show you in terms of my previous experience and my educational, so I believe I am capable of this.”

Image: Instagram

BY Nkosazana Ngwadla

mi butter is a South African brand of compounded herb butter founded by Vhongani Shumba. A proudly local woman-led company based in Gauteng, South Africa. Vhongani fell in love with the art of gourmet cooking and experimenting with new recipes. It was in the experimentation process that I discovered an idea that is growing to become a gourmet brand.

Vhongani is an entrepreneur at heart, and passionate about anything food. She was nominated in Top 500 most influential Africans in the world by Tropics Global Business and Lifestyle Magazine, November 2021 Issue. She won the just Pitch18o at THUD Jozi in 2017 while pitching my business in a competition.

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mi butter pronounced as “my” butter is a South African brand of compounded herb butter founded in 2016 by Vhongani mi butter uses pure quality butter blended with fresh herbs, spices and Roasted garlic, with no preservatives or added colourants.

mi butter can be used to replace traditional butter or oil while preparing home cooked meals and can be used as a flavour enhancer when frying, cooking, and baking or roasting or spreading or making sauces. mi butter is growing to be a staple ingredient of kitchens all over South Africa. Supported by a growing number of loyal customers who deserve the best premium butter and nothing less.

Image: Instagram

BY Nkosazana Ngwadla

Bokang Ramatlapeng is a vocalist / songwriter, composer, voice artist, musical director and producer born in Johannesburg South in Gauteng. Her formative musical lessons began in primary school where she was part of the choir as a soloist. Committed to nurturing her gift of song, she went on to study at the National School of the Arts and is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Pretoria.

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In 2020, she started the #HerOwnSkin series and simultaneously released her first published article called A Women in Jazz highlighting women’s experience in the jazz industry and what it takes to learn to be comfortable in one’s own skin. Bokang has served as a mentor, where she has shared her musical journey with women around the World.

Across the disciples of music and writing, she has shared stages with several prolific musicians including award-winning Ndududzo Makhathini, Ndabo Zulu, and Linda Sikhakhane to name a few.

Image: Instagram

BY Nkosazana Ngwadla

Overwhelmed explores what objects and materials already overloaded with personal meaning and political implications reveal when pushed to work even harder as artworks. The implication of an overwhelmed object is that it is in crisis, undergoing a fundamental shift due to external influences. In different ways, each artist allows continuous overwhelming as a potential space of recuperation and habitation.

This exhibition grapples with ways of approaching matter and meanings from the point where overburdened frameworks burst and overflow. This gathering of vivid imagery and fragments of greater wholes tackles the state of being overwhelmed, piece by piece. Whether grappling with the overflow of colonial systems or teeming domestic interiors, the artworks present ways to navigate and build within too muchness. 

In her installation of objects and videos, Al-Shazly speaks to colonial debris and the ongoing reproduction and repercussions of imperial modes of thinking. Continuing the theme of domestic objects with global reach, Shoni Netshia considers the interior lives of familiar domestic objects within Black homes. While Al Shazly reconsiders the unsettling implications of 18th and 19th-century crockery, Netshia provides rich narratives of the doily through video, photographic prints, and collected words. Conradie addresses issues of creolized identity through decorative objects associated with her ancestry.

She processes porcelain figurines, elaborate glass vases and crockery to reinvent them as baroque sculptural conglomerations. Sacks make new multiples with unbaked clay, rusting cast iron and flimsy cardboard that respond to the contradictions of remote designs for local environments. 

About the Artists

Mai Al Shazly

Mai Al Shazly is an Egyptian visual artist, visual researcher and potter based in Cairo who is a University of Johannesburg (UJ) Artist in Residence in 2023. She works with photography, film, writing and recently re-appropriating archival material in different mediums. She has participated in Paris Biennale des Photographes Du Monde Arabe Contemporain 2019, and was nominated for an artist residence in Switzerland and exhibited her work during Verzasca Foto Festival 2018, as well as participating in a collective work at Biennale Africaine de la photographie at BAMAKO 2017.

Most recently, she received a self-organisation fund through Mophradat 2021, worked on a video and experimental film production through Goethe Institute Kairo in collaboration with Contemporary Image Collective 2017, received a production grant through Pro Helvetia Cairo 2016. Al Shazly ’s work focuses on identity and its relationship with the surrounding environment and the current political issues. In her upcoming work, she speaks about the colonial debris at the dinner table and the continued production of imperial modes of thinking that comes with their reproduced objects.

Shonisani Netshia

Shonisani Netshia lectures painting in the Department of Visual Art at the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, University of Johannesburg. In most of her works she uses IsiShweshwe fabric, and crocheted doilies as a visual references in the production of large to small scale paintings. In these, she explores how, through painterly alteration and transformation, shifts can occur in the meanings of patterns derived from these culturally-loaded sources. In her recent works she negotiates her role as a homemaker, nurturer, working mom, and wife by drawing from a selection of ‘culturally-loaded’ objects from her mother’s home.

These objects symbolise and carry with them a sense of nostalgia from a specific era in her mother’s life, and hers. In her work she explores how, through painterly alteration and transformation, shifts can occur in the meanings of patterns derived from these culturally-loaded sources. In her recent works she negotiates her role as a homemaker, nurturer, working mom, and wife by drawing from a selection of ‘culturally-loaded’ objects from her mother’s home.

These objects symbolize and carry with them a sense of nostalgia from a specific era in her mother’s life, and hers. She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Johannesburg. Her PhD research explores the visual manifestation of black respectability within the home as a domestic environment through the use of objects such as ornaments, tea sets, and crocheted doilies in particular.

Ruth Sacks

Ruth Sacks is a visual artist and academic whose creative practice is based in artist books, writing and installation. She is a lecturer at the University of Johannesburg (Visual Art Department) and was a doctoral fellow at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WiSER). Sacks’ body of work combines found and made objects to talk about how constructions attached to particular political regimes decay.

Thinking with the process of things becoming something else, Sacks builds new objects with lively surfaces. The remainders of faulty plans and problematic public monuments are combined with found objects to form new ecosystems within the exhibition space.

Solo exhibitions include: Concrete Ecologies at PULP (Johannesburg, 2022), Matterings at TPO (Johannesburg, 2017), Open Endings at TTTT (Ghent, 2015), 2,000 Meters Above the Sea at CHR (Johannesburg, 2012), Double-Sided Accumulated at Extraspazio (Rome, 2010), and False Friends at Kunstverein (Amsterdam, 2010). Group exhibitions include: Style Congo: Heresy and Heresy at CIVA (Brussels, 2023),  AMBERES at M KHA Museum of Contemporary Art (Antwerp, 2019), Future Africa: Visions in Time at the National Museums of Kenya (Nairobi, 2017), The Global Contemporary: Art Worlds after 1989 at ZKM |Centre for Art and Media (Karlsruhe, 2011), Performa 09, facilitated by the Museum for African Art (New York, 2009), and the African Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale (Venice, 2007). Sacks’ first academic monograph Congo Style: From Belgian Art Nouveau to African Independence (Michigan University Press) is being published this year.

Stephané Conradie

Stephané Conradie is a lecturer in printmedia at Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Although primarily a trained printmaker, her artistic practice is invested in bricolage assemblages with a focus on object ontologies. Her research and practice stem from a fascination with how people arrange sentimental objects in their homes, particularly in her family member’s homes in Namibia and South Africa.

Her ornate sculptures and prints examine the histories of colonialism and creolisation embedded in domestic material culture. Conradie holds a PhD in Visual Arts at the University of Stellenbosch, where she completed her MA in Visual Arts (Art Education).

Most recently Conradie was included in Materiality (2020) an exhibition at the Iziko National Gallery, the Megalo International Print Prize 2020, Kingston, Australia and Black Luminosity (2021) curated by Gcotyelwa Mashiqa at SMAC Gallery in Stellenbosch, The vibration of things, The 15th edition of the Triennial of Small Sculpture, Fellbach, Germany (2022), (IM)MATERIALITY, Águeda Arts Center, Portugal (2022), Souvenir, a solo exhibition at Whatiftheworld, Cape Town (2022) and Find/Fuse, a two-person exhibition with Elise Thompson at Ceysson Bénétière, New York (2023) curated by Maëlle Ebelle & Francesca Pessarelli. Conradie’s work is held in several private and public collections namely the Leridon Collection, France, GAUTREAUX Collection, Cansas City and UNISA Art Gallery, South Africa.

BY Nkosazana Ngwadla

There’s no doubt that South African actress, Thuso Mbedu is the ultimate IT Girl – she keeps proving that anyone can make it as far as they wish with an excellent worth ethic and resilience!

Her most recent win in the bag was being named one of the faces for the new Dior fragrance, Gris Dior.

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Dior Beauty partnered with five artists to reimagine its unisex fragrance. Using the mediums of paint, light, and sound for a temporary immersive exhibition in Los Angeles, the campaign celebrated the iconic color of the headquarters on Avenue Montaigne in Paris and Gris Dior, the leading perfume from La Collection Privée.

It’s not the first time this South African beauty makes big waves internationally, last year Thuso starred as the lead of Sony’s The Woman King opposite Viola Davis. In the historical epic feature directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, Thuso plays Nawi, an ambitious recruit who fights in the all-female military unit led by Nanisca (Viola Davis).

It seems she’s a girl on many missions to collect all the wins, and in her own words, when does Thuso feel the most confidence? “When I’m breaking the ceiling of my own limitations.”

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