62 The Actionists About Partner With Us Contact Us FAQ ____________________ Thom Pierce Studios Menu Close Linda Twala Building a legacy of altruism Linda Twala at home in Alexandra Linda Twala is the opposite of what he calls a “what’s in it for me” person. When you walk into his house it’s clearly a place of work. People are milling around outside, sorting through donated items and big bowls of onions and potatoes sit on the floor inside. Upstairs is his living space which is crammed full of photographs, newspaper cuttings, awards and memorabilia; a museum of artefacts documenting a lifetime of dedicated work in the community. Linda is the grandson of John Hey Ka Nxele, one of the first residents of Alexandra, a township in Johannesburg that is now home to over one million people in a single square mile. Many of its residents have no work, little food and inadequate accommodation. Linda has lived in Alexandra all of his life. In the 1960s a woman by the name of Rosie Tshabalala would often come by the house, asking for food. Inspired by his own mother’s generosity, he decided to help her. She was so grateful to him that she would wave her stick and say “one day I want you to be the person who buries me”. In 1967 she passed away and Linda honoured her request by organising for her to be taken from the government mortuary and given a dignified burial at the church across the road from his house. This, he says, is how it all began. “From that time I continued to help the destitute…I was born to serve, not to destruct” Over the last 55 years, more and more people have come to Linda for help. He is unable to say no, it is deeply instilled in him to help people. He is passionate about Alexandra and passionate about the people that live there. His work has covered everything from feeding schemes to building houses and planting thousands of trees; providing support to single mothers, people with disabilities and over five thousand senior citizens. It’s not that there is any grand plan, he just tries to help everyone that comes to him asking for support. And with that has earned himself legendary status, which explains the photographs with Madiba, the relationship with Oprah Winfrey and the Mahatma Gandhi award. This year Linda wants to raise enough money to pay for 600 young children from Alexandra to have a helicopter ride, to inspire them to achieve more, and to let them know that they can be pilots, doctors and lawyers. < Previous Item Next Item >

63 The Actionists About Partner With Us Contact Us FAQ ____________________ Thom Pierce Studios Menu Close Ashby Mo Empowering Westbury youth through art Ashby Mo in his studio at Westbury Community Centre Empowering the youth of Westbury wasn’t on Ashby’s mind when he approached the youth centre to find studio space for his art. It just so happened that they offered him a space to work in return for his time volunteering to help teach kids how to read. It was initially a way of paying the rent but it quickly turned into so much more. Sometimes you have to go looking really hard for purpose and meaning, sometimes it finds you. Ashby is a devoted conceptual artist who creates masks and three-dimensional collages that explore issues to do with magic and sorcery. Coming from a community such as Westbury in Johannesburg, he knows how hard it can be to find mentors from within your community, especially in a field such as fine art. Westbury has suffered at the hands of increasing gang violence over the last few years and, even though it is a very small suburb in a very large city, its reputation is growing as one of the most dangerous parts of Johannesburg. Working out of the youth centre gave Ashby a chance to provide the artistic mentorship, that he could never find, to a new generation of upcoming artists in the community; and has solidified his passion for art as a vehicle for social change. Over the last 5 years, in return for his studio space, Ashby has been mentoring a group of local artists through a creative recovering program, providing them with tools and exercises to open up their creativity and use it as a means of self-expression. He is passionate about art and the important place that it holds within society, especially for the youth, and through his program, he hopes to empower the kids from Westbury to go out and confidently pursue their dreams. Alongside his artistic courses, he also runs the reading program and community garden at the youth centre. Find Ashby on Instagram @stdiosba and learn more about the Westbury Youth Centre on their website. < Previous Item Next Item >

59 The Actionists About Partner With Us Contact Us FAQ ____________________ Thom Pierce Studios Menu Close Vhahangwele Tsotetsi Sparking political interest in youth Vhahangwele Tsotetsi in the constitutional court of South Africa In 2029 Vhahangwele is going to run for president of South Africa. In the meantime, he wants to get the youth engaged in politics and turning up at the polling booths. With a degree in political sciences from the University of Johannesburg, he is in an excellent position to do so. His passion for uplifting young people comes through in every word he says and through his NGO, Project Youth South Africa, he is making it a reality. “As a young man, I grew up in a township called Orange Farm. I realised that there wasn’t anything for the youth there, even sports were diminishing. Now there are no facilities, there is nothing for young people to lean on. Instead, they are leaning on drugs, alcohol and gangsterism.” — Vhahangwele Tsotetsi It’s not just about getting the youth of South Africa to walk in and vote, it’s about getting them motivated and engaged enough to care about politics. Vhahangwele believes that this means dealing with all aspects of their lives that are stopping them from being politically engaged both now and in the future. This includes but is not limited to, issues to do with climate change, poverty and health. He is very aware that young people will distance themselves from the democratic process because they are just trying to survive in a world in which they don’t have the tools to navigate and thrive in. “I love this country. It has a lot of potential. I cannot allow it to be destroyed. Young people are the agents of change. I wake up every day and try to think of one big idea that will uplift young people and put them at the forefront of society” — Vhahangwele Tsotetsi Through events, community engagements and partnerships with the Youth Business Expo and Youth Coalition; Project Youth South Africa is on a mission. < Previous Item Next Item >

53 The Actionists About Partner With Us Contact Us FAQ ____________________ Thom Pierce Studios Menu Close Dudu Makhubo Mentoring boys to tackle toxic masculinity Dudu Makhubo at home in Thembilihle As a mentor to kids in the township of Thembilihle, Dudu feels passionately that her energy should be focused on the young boys in her community. “I think that society forgets about the boy child and the boy child is very important to the community. If you raise one boy right it means that you could be avoiding crime, rape, and all the other bad things that can be done by men. If you can educate a boy with the mindset that they can make a change to society then it makes a huge difference.” Through her voluntary work as a member of the community youth club, she believes that she has a platform to deal with toxic masculinity, drugs and alcohol abuse. This, says Dudu, is achieved through education. The youth club is basically a mentorship program for 15 kids in the Thembilihle community. It is overseen and supported by the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation. The kids are aged 15-25 and their mentors are 26-35. It is the mentors who decide how to empower the community through the younger members. In Thembilihle their focus is on education so they support their kids through an after-school Maths and Science program, encouraging them to attend the free classes and assisting them when they need help. They also take the kids to a variety of community events and show them how they can play a more active role in the community. “Whatever it is that we do it is about empowering their minds and changing the narrative that if you are from an informal settlement you cannot be educated.” Activism has always been in Dudu’s family. Her mother has been a very active member of the community since the youth movements of 1976, opening up her house as the meeting point for PAC meetings during the liberation struggle. She later became a vocal opponent to several attempts to forcibly remove people from Thembilihle. “We want to see a change in the community, our parents have done what they could but it’s up to us whether we continue from where they stopped or leave things as they are. As the youth we have the power to make things happen.” It seems that many young people in South Africa feel so disenfranchised that it renders them powerless to even conceive of being part of a positive change in the country. Even at such a young age Dudu already recognises that through education, even the smallest change that she can make in another person’s life can have the power to brighten their future and that of the community around them. < Previous Item Next Item >

76 The Actionists About Partner With Us Contact Us FAQ ____________________ Thom Pierce Studios Menu Close Rachel Bukasa Activist and leader of social support Rachel Buckasa at the offices of Black Sash in Mowbray From a young age, Rachel Bukasa knew she wanted to do something to safeguard against injustices, even before she had the vocabulary to articulate her passion for work in the field of human rights. Her father was the head of the national water company in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and at the time of the volatile political regime change in 1998, he made the difficult decision to move his family to South Africa. As the head of the national utility company and a father to two young daughters, he found himself in a very precarious situation. "My career trajectory has been shaped and influenced by my supportive family. In particular, my father guided my every step as I took on a director role for an organisation at the age of 26." While studying towards a law degree at the University of Cape Town (UCT), Rachel started volunteering for the Refugee Law Clinic (now the Refugee Rights Unit) and pursued a career in corporate law after graduating. In time she was headhunted by one of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) implementing partners in South Africa who invited her to join the leadership of the Cape Town Refugee Centre as director. At the age of 26, she was unsure of her ability to lead an organisation of that scale, but with the encouragement of her family, she realised that her lived experiences as a child of a former refugee in South Africa provided an authentic and unique understanding to better serve the clients of the Refugee Centre. For three years, Rachel led the Refugee Centre, which provided psychosocial assistance to the growing refugee community in Cape Town, along with both immediate and long-term responses, from educational assistance to counselling for women who were victims of military violence. Shortly after her role at the Refugee Centre, Rachel worked for the Children’s Radio Foundation. An organisation that ensures young people from rural areas in Tanzania, DRC, South Africa and Zambia, get exposed to a diverse selection of career opportunities that they may not normally encounter. Through youth-led programming and training, they dealt with contemporary issues around sexual health, gender identity and stigma, as well as any other pressing issues that the youth were facing in their communities. In 2021, Rachel joined Black Sash as Director. Black Sash is an organisation that has changed over the years, always working diligently for the rights of the most marginalised communities while adapting to the needs of the country it serves. Founded in 1955 as a way for white women to oppose the apartheid regime, initially campaigning against the different aspects of racial injustice, it evolved the scope of its advocacy in the preceding years, to widespread access to social security support for the most vulnerable members of society. "Black Sash is a human rights organisation, with a deep-rooted history in the civil society landscape of our country. Despite the strides made in the socio-political environment of our country post-apartheid, there is sadly a vast majority of people that are finding themselves left in the margins of society with little to no social safety net. So we continue to advocate for the basic human rights for those people in poverty." As with any organisation, it is important to stay abreast of the ever-changing landscape relevant to the work. With a new director at their helm, Black Sash moves towards a more ambitious goal to change the way that South Africa deals with social support. "Expanding from focusing solely on grants, we are focusing on the concept of a social protection floor. People with little to no livelihood sources should be provided a basic support structure that includes food, housing, and healthcare." Black Sash is currently advocating for a new social support policy, one that encompasses five human rights that many people in the country need help to obtain. These include healthcare, basic income, nutrition, basic services, and education. Together with a coalition of NGOs around the country, they want to lobby the Government to provide this package of social protection benefits and roll it out to every member of society who needs it. "It’s important to get government stakeholders onboard and aligned in the recognition that decisions should be made human-centric and apply a human rights lens. We need tangible and bold actions for poverty reduction that includes a basic income support package of R720, as a minimum, for people aged between 18 to 59 years with little to no income.” At its heart, the social protection floor is the idea of a comprehensive safety net that provides the most basic of human rights to everyone in the country. And while basic income support is at the very centre of this safety net, the idea is that if everyone receives an amount of money for their basic needs, there will be an impact on education and healthcare down the line. Rachel’s passion and drive to make a positive lasting impact on people and community continues to propel her work in the human rights sphere. "That young woman's dreams came true in terms of being able to make an impact but I know the fight for justice and human rights continues. It can get daunting the scale of the issues and the slow progress being made not only nationally but internationally on ensuring everyone’s basic human rights are protected. Nonetheless, I am encouraged to stand for justice by focusing on my sphere of influence. I equally encourage everyone I meet to do the same”. This story was created in partnership with Heinrich Böll Foundation < Previous Item Next Item >

39 The Actionists About Partner With Us Contact Us FAQ ____________________ Thom Pierce Studios Menu Close Sbusiso Malinga Alexandra's unwavering water warrior Sbusiso Sangweni next to his catchment net in Alexandra Every Wednesday and Friday, Sbusiso Malinga would walk from his home in Alexandra Township to clean up the litter trap that sits across the Jukskei River and collects hundreds of polystyrene takeaway containers that have floated downstream over the previous days. The volume of waste that built up over only a few days was vast, making his work thankless, repetitive and unending. But as a passionate advocate for change in Alexandra, he kept going, unpaid, week in and week out. Sbusiso passed away from natural causes last week, on the 18th of July 2023, at 35 years old. In 2022 Paul Maluleke introduced Sbusiso to me as one of the most dedicated volunteers for the Alex Water Warriors. He was the first person that I formally profiled for The Actionists. We are publishing the profiles of Sbusiso and his colleague Paul to commemorate the important contribution that Sbusiso made, through the story of the Alex Water Warriors. As one of the founders of the Alex Water Warriors, Paul Maluleke has built a team of volunteers who get together to clean up the Jukskei River which starts at Ellis Park and joins the Crocodile River outside Lanseria, flowing through the township of Alexandra on the outskirts of Johannesburg. The cleanup project is born out of passion and necessity. The level of pollution from discarded plastic has reached such high levels that it affects the health and livelihoods of most people living in the community. As a passionate advocate for bringing tourism back to Alexandra, Paul knows the importance of cleaning up the river whilst also passing on new values to the next generation. Formed in 2017 the water warriors have grown in numbers and support. From an original team of 4 dedicated volunteers, they are now approximately 700, collecting around 1000 bags of rubbish per week through their ten teams working along different sections of the river. They recently received a recycling station from Coca-Cola Beverages SA, launched on Mandela Day, in partnership with COJ, ARMOUR and Adreach's Wastepreneurs to provide the warriors with space for weighing and sorting of recycling as well as a buyback centre to aid ongoing sustainability for them and the community. < Previous Item Next Item >

17 The Actionists About Partner With Us Contact Us FAQ ____________________ Thom Pierce Studios Menu Close Wayne Jean-Pierre Restoring freedom by clearing criminal records Wayne Jean-Pierre in Wentworth, KZN Halfway through my interview with Wayne Jean-Pierre, he breaks down in tears. I have just asked him why he has dedicated the last 10 years of his life to helping other people clear their criminal records. His answer is simple and clear. If he knows how to do it, then it is his responsibility to help others who don’t. And ‘it’, navigating the bureaucratic gauntlet that stands in the way of hope and opportunity, is no simple task. “Our country has over one million people registered on a criminal database, most are poor and vulnerable and will never get assistance because they won't get resources.” It is a kindness and generosity that not everyone would show, especially towards so many people who he does not know, over such a long period of time. But to understand why it is such an emotional issue for him we need some context... Wayne Jean-Pierre was born and raised in Wentworth, a coloured community on the outskirts of Durban. The challenges of growing up in apartheid were many, but in a community such as Wentworth, just standing your ground against a police force that was out to vilify you, could get you into serious trouble. Over the course of the last century, thousands of people have received criminal records for “crimes” under the apartheid laws. Offences that are based on old legislation, archaic race laws and for defending themselves against a system that was constructed to control them. Of course, there were also legitimate causes for criminal records, but many of them could also be categorised as crimes that were forced onto people out of necessity. Is it a crime to steal food to feed your children when the government will not allow you to work? “If you look at criminality we have to look at the decolonisation of criminality and those offences.” In 2010 Wayne had his criminal record cleared. To me, the nature of his crime did not matter. I didn’t ask and he didn’t tell. The very fact that he had cleared his record indicated that it fell into the categories that meant his “freedom” was deemed warranted. A crime is not annulled on a whim or by fluke, there is a complicated and lengthy process of assessment. All the more need for someone like Wayne, who had experienced the system and learned how it works. Many people who have a criminal record cannot afford a lawyer, many cannot read, and often they do not have access to the technology needed to simply print and scan a form. But almost all of them feel the weight of historic injustice. “To build up a pardon file can take about three months. As more people start doing it, the process becomes longer and corruption starts to kick in. When police officers are not doing their work, the public pays the price.“ Motivated by the need to assist as many people as possible, Wayne has developed an online platform that helps people to expunge their criminal records. ClearMe is a free and simple tool that takes the user through a step-by-step process. Users are initially helped to assess whether they are eligible to have their records cleared (based on their original sentence or punishment) and, if eligible, they are taken through the paperwork and application process needed to proceed. “Driven by the injustice. What I have learned, people will get for free. I could be a millionaire over and over, I could easily open files for people and charge them money but at the end of the day, it's not going to reach the people that need the assistance.“ Wayne’s actions raise an important question about our responsibility towards the people around us. If we have the knowledge to help people with something that could change their lives for the better, is it not our imperative, as humans, to do so? For Wayne the answer is simple. Yes. What’s your answer? < Previous Item Next Item >

67 The Actionists About Partner With Us Contact Us FAQ ____________________ Thom Pierce Studios Menu Close Thato Thabang Mosoeu A safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community Thato Mosoeu at home in Bloemfontein Thato, also known as Thabang, is an activist for the sensitisation of the LGBTQIA+ community in Bloemfontein. She is passionate about providing a safe space for the community to talk about their experiences and, in turn, push for change by challenging local organisations to change how they interact with the LGBTQIA+ community. Through her experience working with various NGOs in the area, Thato realised the importance of going to the clinics and police stations to educate the people working there on how to treat the LGBTQIA+ community in a more sensitive and inclusive way. She also hosts support groups for the LGBTQIA+ community to talk about their experiences in order to gain a better understanding of what needs to be done. Thato was inspired by her own experience when a male police officer refused to refer to her as a woman. At the time, the police officer refused to listen to Thabang, simply telling her that she would always be a man. This 2018 encounter in the mall made her realise the important work that needed to be done to help create a safer and more accepting society for her community. < Previous Item Next Item >

30 The Actionists About Partner With Us Contact Us FAQ ____________________ Thom Pierce Studios Menu Close Clerah Sethole Creating an inclusive curriculum for kids Clerah Sethole at her old school The night before her presentation to the funding panel, Clerah Sethole had no idea what she was going to pitch. It was a chance reminder from Facebook, of a post that she had written a year beforehand, that sparked an idea. She wrote her speech in 30 minutes and, the next day pitched her idea for “Exclusively Inclusive” to a group of potential funders put together by the Trevor Noah Foundation as the culmination of a four-week changemakers workshop. She received her first instalment of financial backing for the initiative the very next day. Exclusively Inclusive aims to provide a curriculum for children with ADHD and dyslexia that allows them to be better catered for as part of larger classes. Their holistic approach identifies young learners who need help and then trains the teachers in alternative teaching methods that can be used alongside the more traditional methods that do not work for all of the students. Not only does Clerah want to provide valuable resources to help young learners who are struggling, but she also wants to educate communities about learning difficulties which are often undiagnosed or not catered for. She cultivates a fully inclusive environment through ongoing dialogue between the parents, children, teachers and community. Implemented in government schools, the programme also aims to provide support to parents who are frustrated and don’t know what to do. Through education, caregivers develop a deeper understanding of learning difficulties in general as well as the particular challenges their children face. They are encouraged to pass on this information to other parents. Using a mix of training workshops and curriculum literature Clerah hopes to be able to roll out the programme to schools all around the community of Mohlakeng in Gauteng. Digging a little deeper into her own motivation, Clerah identifies her need to help others as a consequence of her childhood, growing up as an only child around domestic violence and crime. Most of her friends had siblings to talk to who helped them navigate the complicated world. Clerah didn’t have that inbuilt support system, so she understands how it feels to not know where to turn when life is tough. “I love working with children and it breaks my heart to see a child struggling with something that they really want to learn. I want to see every child enjoy going to school and having someone who understands them.” A young child experiencing learning difficulties often feels confused, misunderstood, anxious and excluded. Falling behind in class, with no hope of catching up, could cause even the most strong-willed child to give up. For someone in this position, practical assistance and compassion may not only help them pass, but it could also restore their faith in themselves. < Previous Item Next Item >

12 The Actionists About Partner With Us Contact Us FAQ ____________________ Thom Pierce Studios Menu Close Desmond D'Sa Battling air, water & land pollution Desmond D’Sa at his office in Wentworth, KZN The list of organisations that Demond D’Sa has been instrumental in forming is overwhelming: RIGHT2KNOW KZN Subsistence Fisherfolks Poor Flatdwellers Movement South Durban Community Environmental Alliance KZN Environmental Alliance Coalition of the Poor As he reels them off, it is hard not to wonder why they are all necessary. But, as he expands on his experience as an environmental activist, it becomes clear that he knows there is strength in numbers. He is also passionate about including everybody in his mission to provide a more just society as well as a healthier and cleaner world for all. Desmond grew up in Cato Manor, KwaZulu Natal. At the time, it was a lush area with clean, fresh water. There was healthy soil to grow food and ample space to enjoy being part of a diverse and generous community. As the 11th of 13 children, he learned how to share and how to care about the people around him. It was at 15 years old that life changed dramatically. In 1966, the family was split apart and removed from Cato Manor as part of the Group Areas Act. He was relocated to a flat in Wentworth with his mother where he still lives to this day. Desmond’s journey into activism started in 1998 while he was working at an acrylic factory making fibre for clothing and blankets. He noticed that many of his colleagues were becoming sick from working with the toxic liquid chemical acrylonitrile. They were being dismissed by the factory clinic without any concern or treatment, and so he decided to investigate. While his bosses were “sleeping on the job”, Desmond would steal whatever paperwork he could find and take it home to read up about the risks that they were exposed to. After he started asking questions and speaking up at work about the dangers, he was dismissed from his job. This experience lit a fire in him and inspired him to understand the true extent of the damage that the petrochemical industry in Durban was causing to its workers and the communities living around the factories. From that point on, it has been a life mission for Desmond to be the protector of air, water and land pollution, not only in Wentworth but around the country. From a small office building in Wentworth, he started the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance which has grown to become a team of nine people who work tirelessly to monitor pollution levels from local industries. Through a programme of community engagement, regular patrols, a network of whistle-blowers, and monitoring techniques for air, water and soil, they keep an eye on the whole city and, when the pollution levels get too high, they know who to hold accountable. “We are more than a watchdog, the officials don't even know what is going on. We hammer them, we put pressure when we need to.” With over 25 years of experience as an environmental activist, Desmond has learned how to fight and how to get his message heard. He is so passionate about his role as an environmental protector that, from the outside, his workload and responsibility to the community can seem overwhelming. But, having had these values instilled in him from a very young age, hard work and helping others is second nature to Desmond. “My mother and father were always about service. If anyone knocked on the door and asked for anything they would give it. We never hoarded money. We were taught to be providers. As long as we work hard, things will work out.“ < Previous Item Next Item >