Ancestral calls in the boardroom

by | Dec 15, 2025 | Indepth2025

Joburg is a world-class city in the way that it reconciles global modernity with deeply rooted indigenous spirituality, a dichotomy for professionals in corporate South Africa.

  • Joburg displays its status as a world-class African city through its diversity and multiculturalism.
  • Company policies are shifting to accommodate employees that need leave to undergo initiation.
  • Corporate spaces embracing employees who are professionals and African spiritual healers.

Joburg is a city often judged by its robust GDP, financial technology adoption and its relentless, dynamic pace. However, what also defines the city of Joburg’s status as a world-class African city is its profound and often overlooked multiculturalism and diversity – one of these being how the corporate environment is opening itself up for the integration of modern careers with ancestral practices. This is where corporate employees are able to embrace their dual identities of being both professionals in the workplace, and called healers at the same time.

Work-wear meets ancestral-wear

“They call me Christmas tree”, says 32-year-old media engineer Mkhulu Mahlal’entabeni (his ancestral name that means “the one who stays on a mountain”), with a big laugh. His comment highlights the cultural and societal pressures he faced when he first appeared in the office wearing his African traditional accessories, a mix of coloured beads (ubuhlalo) – white, blue and red, around his neck and on his wrists, adorned with the same-coloured beads; on each wrist is the vivid sight of the off-white fur isiphandla (ceremonial wristband of a goat’s skin).

Beaded necklaces that form part of a healer and corporate professional’s dress-code. Photo by Zanele S. Maduma

These are often the most visible signs of a profound duality, often resting around the subtle yet powerful fusion of corporate and astral uniforms. For many practitioners, traditional beads, bangles and even sacred ancestral cloths are not abandoned, they are carefully woven into the daily attire of the office, creating a new and authentic form of African corporate dress.

This deliberate visibility reached a world stage when Amanda Gcabashe, an accomplished executive with a background in accounting and auditing, delivered her TedTalk presentation at the TEDxJohannesburg stage, in Johannesburg. Gcabashe is an African Traditional Medicine Practitioner (isangoma/inyanga) and, as Chair at the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), is responsible for developing concepts and managing and implementing projects aimed at industrial development of the African Traditional Medicine (ATM) sector in South Africa.

For her TedTalk, Gcabashe was not dressed in a conventional power suit as often seen in such a global forum. Appearing from the shadows of backstage, Gcabashe walked on stage barefoot, but with a commanding and authoritative energy. She carried ithusi (a wooden staff) which she gently placed on a chair. The wooden staff (ithusi) is sometimes wrapped around with colourful beads. In a spiritual context, it is used for protection and believed to possess certain powers. Fully adorned in her African traditional healer’s attire, Gcabeshe used her visibility to embed ancestral wisdom directly into the modern conversation about her journey of this “parallel universe” as she calls it. Her presence affirmed that in Johannesburg, the traditional and the corporate are not just compatible but that they are a source of professional authority worth recognition and respect.

Sharp contrasts and conflicts

The tension between being a corporate professional and a traditional healer arise in the dismantling of the life that practitioners have built and are then forced to rebuild on two foundations. The integration of ancestral practices with modern careers, shows that traditions and ambition can coexist, sparking challenges to and questions about how success is defined or redefined.

Mkhulu Mahlal’entabeni, whose birthname is Keabetswe Kaka, is an initiated spiritual healer who is also a broadcast media technology engineer in one of the largest media companies in South Africa. He shares the journey of his spiritual awakening with both dismay and acceptance.

Kaka began his journey of ukuthwasa (initiation) after he had graduated from university and entered into the work space – which he left for a time, only for him to come back at a later stage. He remembers the early days of his awakening to his calling as having begun with dreams about snakes and, at times, seeing his grandmother who had passed on. He completed his initiation after 18 months of training and describes his journey as anything but easy.

“I am proud of my dual identity. Am I embracing it? Is it easy to handle and manage? Not at all. That is one thing I can definitely say I struggle with when it comes to my dual identity, this dichotomy”, says Kaka. “Everything you’ve ever known and ever understood, you now have to question”, he adds.

The initial attempt to reconcile these two demanding worlds is often defined by an exhausting, almost schizophrenic level of code-switching. Added to this is mastering the art of living in Johannesburg, navigating its fast pace and lack of natural environment which typically forms an integral part of a healer’s life and journey. It is an act of extreme mental and emotional endurance.

Info Box


When traditional healers (some, not all) burp, it symbolises the presence of the spirit or their ancestors. It can happen at any time, regardless of location or time. It is one of the signs that the ancestors are omnipresent and work to convey messages through traditional healers and other gifted people.

Source: Hooghordel, G. J. (2021). Reeds in the wind of change: Zulu sangomas in transition.

Zanele Zwane (36), whose ancestral name is Gogo Manziniwasentabeni (meaning one who heals through prayer and the use of water) is a practicing healer and a film and television professional. She fans herself with an ancestral cloth wrapped around her shoulders, and punctuates the conversation with soft burps [see info box above]. In the film and television industry, Zwane meets her difficulty of this duality with a sense of acceptance. “My understanding is that your ancestors never push you to a point where you literally cannot do both your professional and healing work,” she adds.

An awakening amid a scene on a shoot

Johannesburg’s global standing is predicated on its resilience and its complex cultural layering. The city’s inherent dynamism has created space for synthesis. This is a critical distinction as it shows not just tolerance but a sophisticated and working model of layered identity and diversity.

While Zwane and her production crew were shooting a scene in the bushes, African traditional props had to be used to recreate a real and natural-looking set – the crew brought in impepho, an African herb also known as sage, and a real goat’s head which had been purchased from a nearby butchery.

Bundles of impepho stack at Faraday market down town Joburg, fueling ancestral connections in a global city. Photo: Zanele S. Maduma

Once they put the goat’s head down, and lit up the impepho, that was it for Zwane. As the sacred smoke of impepho mingled with the sharp, metallic scent of blood from the goat’s severed head, a profound shift stirred within her. This potent scene, the goat’s head with its visceral residue and the smoke curling up in the air from the impepho creating a thick scent, translated into umgidi for her lineage. Umgidi a sacred observance performed for summoning the spirit of the elders to offer and share with one’s offering.

“That caused a ball of fire for me, because once you light up impepho, it summons the spirits” Zwane explains. “I fell down and the trance that takes over is as though you are out of your human body.”

Production had to pause. This resulted to extended shooting hours as the crew had to stop and check on her if she was ok, proceeding to give her time to recollect herself before continuing with production.

The complexity of the duality

Joburg has always been a space of high-density cultural exchange. The difference today is that this exchange is no longer confined to the townships or the informal sector, it has moved into the boardroom.

The traditional healer who is also an executive proves that African spirituality is not merely a relic to be studied, but a living knowledge system that is both relevant and powerful in navigating the pressures of the 21st century economy. The dual-identity individual is a highly sophisticated code-switcher.

At her TEDx Talks, TEDxJohannesburg, My Life as a Traditional Healer in the 21st Century, Gcabashe, describes her duality as a “parallel universe”.

This complexity is the key to African innovation. It signifies an intellectual and spiritual freedom that positions it as a genuine leader of Afro-modern thought. The quiet, almost subversive resilience of these dual-identity professionals provides the most compelling evidence for Johannesburg’s world-class status. They are the architects of a new authenticity, proving that a major global city can be powered by both algorithms and ancestry. The true architecture of Johannesburg is not its glass towers but its deep, layered character, revealed in the lives of those who sustain its dynamism through their authenticity.

Shifting company policies and the Traditional Health Professions Council

In South Africa, state-owned companies such as Transnet and local government structures like the City of Tshwane have implemented spiritual or initiation leave. This leave refers to extended absence by employees for the purpose of undergoing ukuthwasa. It falls under broader protections for cultural, religious, and traditional beliefs, as enshrined in Section 15 of the Constitution (freedom of religion, belief, and opinion) and the Employment Equity Act (EEA), which prohibits unfair discrimination based on culture or belief.

Signposts pointing to key Sandton landmarks guiding Joburg’s workers and visitors to Sandton’s heart, where healers navigate both boardrooms and their callings. Photo: Zanele S. Maduma

Merriam Leuuw, whose ancestral name is Mmamorena, a Masters student at Wits University, received support from her employer at the time when she was granted leave for those days that she went through her initiation.

“They were very accommodating, because the space I was in, in Free State, is more appreciative or understanding of people who are spiritually gifted”, says Leuuw, who was working for community radio station Motheo FM in the province at the time that she began her initiation.

In April 2025, the SABC reported that the City of Tshwane had adopted a policy granting its employees special leave for ukuthwasa. This move marked a shift toward recognising African spirituality in the workplace.

However, one of the primary challenges emerging in recognizing the needs for professionals with a spiritual calling is that ukuthwasa is an open-ended practice. This means that the initiation process is continuous and sometimes can extend over a longer period.

When Kaka went on his initiation journey, he did not want to disclose this at work as he did not want to complicate or ruin his job.

Kaka says, “I only opened up about me being in initiation when my job and initiation process was starting to conflict. I work in the technical space so we work shifts and odd hours at times. Instead of talking to HR, I went to my direct manager and explained what was going on with me. I never really got to involve HR, although my journey did impact my work performance and as we speak, I am going through work performance improvement,” adds Kaka. In a separate interview with the SABC, African Spiritual Advisor Siyabonga Mkhize of Umsamo Institute, noted that because of the open-endedness of the initiating process, perhaps companies need to draft policies that balance out the spiritual needs of the employees without compromising the operations of the employer. The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA), a federation representing employers in the metal and engineering industries in South Africa, points out, for example, many organisations are still grappling with finding working solutions pertaining to extended leave days for initiation.

Traditional Health Professions Council

In January 2008, the South African government gazetted The Traditional Health Practitioners Act, 2007, to recognise traditional health practitioners and to regulate, train and legitimize their issuing of sick notes upon registering as professional healers.   

A post on X (formerly known as Twitter) sparked an engagement on the social media platform when a user displayed bewilderment at the fact that employees are now able to submit sick notes from their traditional healers. One user dropped a bombshell into this conversation, giving an account of how an employee was fired for submitting such a note – and had gone on to win their case before the Commission for Conciliation and Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), proving its legal weight.

This online flurry mirrors Johannesburg’s own dance of duality, where corporate professionals and African traditional practitioners navigate a landscape that’s both perplexing and progressively inclusive. The city’s formal systems are bending to accommodate the African self. Such transitions and innovations further prove that Joburg is progressive in its multiculturalism, evidently putting it forward as a world-class African city, innovating amid its medley of challenges.

https://youtu.be/WoIRAqRYjdE

Featured Image: Skyscraper glass facade rise in Sandton, Joburg. Photo: Zanele S. Maduma

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EDITORIAL: National Convention of rhetorical questions. Mr President, please respect us.  

by | Aug 20, 2025 | Opinion

The pageantry of a National Convention is a spectacle of modern democracy. But beneath the carefully choreographed display of unity and optimism, a National Convention at its best is something far more profound. It is a stage for tough questions. But it can also be a stage for tragicomedy. 

In a speech on the First Day of Convention on August 15, 2025, President Cyril Ramaphosa posed a question that left many South Africans baffled. “We need to ask ourselves why so many people live in abject poverty and so few live lives of opulence,” he said. 

One would be forgiven for thinking that the President only landed in South Africa a few months ago. Perhaps it explains why the president’s response to any significant matters is to appoint a commission of inquiry. Our billionaire president is simply out of touch.  

The expectation is often that when a country is in a crisis’ such as poverty and inequality, the current reality in South Africa, it is the President who is the first to act. To rise above the crisis, call for policy reform and offer practical solutions to the problem, closing the gaps, rather than asking about the symptoms of this much bigger problem.   

The question is rhetorical, deflecting from his government’s role in these long standing and ongoing economic disparities which begs the question, if it is the President asking this question, then who is to answer?  

For too long, the national conversation has been about symptoms and not the underlying sickness which is the corruption and mishandling of state funds by those in power and appointed by him. Therefore, it was not his place to ask this question; instead, his place is to come into the gathering with solutions. 

The National Dialogue is the opportunity for the President and his cabinet to account for how it is that more that 30 years into democracy, the issue of poverty and inequality in South Africa is still front and centre in and outside of the National Dialogue spaces. 

In South Africa, as of 2024 approximately 55.5% of the population lives below the National upper poverty line. This means that more than half of the population struggles to afford necessities, highlighting significant economic inequality. 

Abject poverty in South Africa is a daily struggle fought in informal settlements and overcrowded townships, the family that shares a single room, children who go to bed hungry and the parents who are unemployed. It is the lack of clean water, the failing sanitation and the constant fear of crime. The numbers in this category represent much of our population. 

When democracy arrived, the hope was that this system would be dismantled. While legal segregation ended, the infrastructure of inequality remains in place, a stubborn architect of our current reality. The question that remains with ordinary South Africans is why has equality not been achieved more than 30 years later? 

President Ramaphosa’s question is a diagnosis of what has and continues to be the consequence of the rot that he has power over in government. To answer his own question would require a great sense of accountability for his contribution to the problem.  The President posing the question without tangible solutions, inspires debate but offers little practical direction. 

FEATURED IMAGE:

Zanele S. Maduma, 2025 Wits Vuvuzela Journalist. Photo: File/Paul Botes

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Linguistic Exclusion in AI: Tech and AI language is a problem in multilingual South Africa 

by | Aug 18, 2025 | News

Telecommunication companies like Vodacom including state owned entities such as the education and health services sector, are not fast enough in including South African languages in their AI services offerings, hindering digital transformation and economic growth for non-English speakers. 

  • The dominance of English in AI and tech development in South Africa creates a language barrier, excluding 92% of the population who primarily speak indigenous languages
  • Incorporating all 12 official South African languages into AI and technology could lead to greater inclusion, social cohesion and open up a significant market among young individuals.
  • There’s a risk of “language death and marginalisation” if indigenous South African languages are not incorporated into new technological developments and AI.
Quote on issues of tech and AI in African languages, IMAGE: Zanele S. Maduma

South Africa is a country that is pursuing digital transformation in modernising government services and driving economic growth yet the results aren’t showing as yet.

The Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Mr. Solly Malatsi, this year launched the Roadmap for Digital Transformation of the South African government. This comes as the government’s commitment to inclusive growth, efficient service delivery and ensuring that government services are accessible to all South Africans.   

But the dominance of English in AI and tech development excludes 92% of the population who primarily speak indigenous languages in South Africa, limiting access to digital tools, education, and economic opportunities for the youth. 

This is a big issue in a country with 12 official languages. Only 8% of South Africans speak English at home, according to Stats SA. Yet most online services offered in AI, such as online banking and mobile phone bot operated customer services on platforms like WhatsApp, are in English and this creates a language barrier for many people.  

Dr. Lindiwe Tshuma, a language advisor at Wits University, says “Before we talk about AI we need to ask whether or not everybody has reputable access (to mobile a phone) and does everybody have digital literacy? 

“We are not expecting everybody to produce content in all the 12 official languages of the country, but we expect it to at least pick a few,” said Dr. Tshuma. 

Tech giants like Google and Microsoft have translation tools on their website, but the problem is not just about translating websites, it is also about how AI understands and responds to indigenous South African languages. 

In a multilingual country such as South Africa, there are non-English languages that are more widely spoken such as IsiZulu and Xhosa, but no language is bigger or more important than another and therefore should be all represented in the tech and AI space.

“Our technology enables more people to engage in the digital economy using various languages,” says Partnership Associate at Botlhale AI Solutions, Amogelang Tsetse.  

“Customers of different languages who don’t necessarily fully understand English also understand what is happening digitally,” Tsetse added. 

The lack of South African languages in AI has a bigger impact, such as access to education and economic opportunities for the youth, particularly in a country striving for both linguistic diversity, social cohesion and inclusion. 

Dr. Tshuma warns of language death and marginalisation should tech and AI companies and language experts not make any strides.  

Tech and AI language is a problem in multilingual South Africa, IMAGE: Zanele S. Maduma

“We need to be looking at the readiness of our African languages to be incorporated into AI. Some of our languages are not yet fully developed but this does not mean that they must not be incorporated into the technological advances taking place, otherwise we are contributing to language death and marginalisation” she says.

There is a huge opportunity for companies that embrace local languages. There is a widespread mobile device ownership in South Africa among younger, tech-savvy individuals aged 15–34, according to South African News Agency. This is a massive market.  

“Our team is made up of 50% engineers who understand that technology exists to help people understand things in their own language,” said Tsetse. 

South Africa has a rich linguistic heritage and incorporating all the 12 languages into tech and AI developments and advances ensures the inclusion and social cohesion the government says it is aiming for in its digitisation projections.

FEATURED IMAGE: AI image with quote on African Languages and tech. Photo: Zanele S. Maduma

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SLICE: The scourge of food insecurity continues to haunt students in South Africa

by | May 3, 2025 | Opinion

The effects of hunger among students need sensitivity and cannot be ignored.

The continued struggle of access to food for students in South Africa is a cause for concern and an urgent matter that needs to be addressed. Government feeding schemes are designed to help alleviate hunger among learners from primary school to high school level. Yet, even with these measures in place the problem of food insecurity persists.

Food insecurity refers to the physical unavailability of food where people are undernourished due to their lack of social or economic access to adequate food. It is worth emphasizing that food insecurity is not only the lack of food, but also a lack of access to nutritious and nourishing food.

Empty refrigerator with few consumable items. Photo: Simphiwe Maduma

Students without food or those who can only afford one meal a day are forced to attend classes on an empty stomach while waiting for lunchtime to receive their meal for the day. This poses serious implications in learning and concentration capacity and ability, therefore affecting students’ academic performance.

There is also the social well-being aspect of this problem for students such as difficulty in socializing.  These students feel the need to hide their hunger and need for food to avoid being ostracized by their peers. This also affects their enthusiasm and ability to partake in campus life which forms part of socializing and engaging in new experiences.

The proportion of households in South Africa that experienced moderate to severe food insecurity was estimated at 19,7% in 2023. For students who come from such households, learning can be a nightmare.

FEATURED IMAGE: Small size empty takeaway container. PHOTO: Zanele S. Maduma

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