Listen To Your Footsteps

Long before The Polygamist reached screens around the world, Sue Nyathi was writing novels in exercise books. There was only ever one copy of each, and it travelled from class to class, then from one high school to the next.

In this episode of Listen To Your Footsteps, Kojo Baffoe talks with the Bulawayo-born author, editor and scriptwriter about the stories she was told to put aside and the life she eventually built around them. Steered towards finance by parents whose own choices had been limited under colonial rule, Sue spent more than 15 years as an analyst before leaving corporate life in 2018, the year she turned 40.

You'll hear her discuss:

• Years of rejection letters, and the publisher whose advice helped her sharpen her craft
• The day she left her job and felt light, and the COVID years that tested that decision
• Why The Polygamist only felt real once she walked onto the set
• Making Johannesburg home after living with one foot in and one foot out
• Raising her son, the power of presence and why she compiled Man-Hood

It is a conversation about love for the work, patience and staying grounded when the noise arrives.

Listen to the full episode now.

Sue Nyathi: https://suenyathi.co.za | Instagram @suenyathi |

Listen To Your Footsteps:

Jean Daniel Kanza reflects on growing up between cultures, leaving a career that looked successful from the outside, and building a different future in Congo. These ten moments from Listen to Your Footsteps explore belonging, creative freedom, and the everyday work that makes bigger dreams possible.

Listen to the full episode for the complete conversation, subscribe for more African stories and perspectives, and share this with someone finding the courage to start again.

When Ringo Madlingozi lost his mother, his grief led him to an uncomfortable realisation: he had never truly asked his sons how losing their own mothers had felt.

In Episode 150 of Listen To Your Footsteps, recorded at Sony Music Africa in Johannesburg, Kojo Baffoe sits down with the Afro-soul icon and his sons, singer and actor Phila Madlingozi and ThandaMusic. Their EP, Uthando Ngundoqo (Love Is Essential), grew from a simple instruction from father to sons: talk to your mother. Say what you would say if she were here.

This is a conversation about family, inheritance and the everyday work of love. You will hear:

• How one father became "the thread" holding together children from different mothers and different cities
• On being treated as "the celebrity kid", and dreading father's visits because he knew Ringo would leave again
• Finding your own voice when people hear you as "hip hop Ringo"
• Three distinct definitions of love: a responsibility, a charge, and the feeling of being complete
• Why recording the songs felt like therapy, and what they hope the EP offers anyone carrying their own grief

Listen to the full conversation, then follow Listen To Your Footsteps for more stories about how people became who they are.

More from the show:

https://kojobaffoe.com/podcast/

Uthando Ngundoqo: [LINK NEEDED]

In this special episode of Listen to Your Footsteps from 2025, host Kojo Baffoe becomes the guest and Melanie Bala the host. From a devastating injury that ended his Olympic dreams to the last words he shared with his father, these ten moments trace a life built on resilience, identity, and the quiet trust that the universe has you.

Check out the full episode wherever you get your podcasts.

Ntosh Madlingozi has never wanted children. Some people, he reflects, have children because they grew up without a father, and that is how they heal. "So the only way I could heal myself," he says, "was to be a great father to myself."

In this episode of Listen To Your Footsteps, Kojo Baffoe sits down with the South African stand-up comedian and actor for an unhurried conversation about self-knowledge, independence and the path that led him to comedy. Raised in his great-grandmother's house in KwaZakhele, Port Elizabeth, where "there was always laughter", Ntosh studied marketing, worked at an independent record label and spent two years in financial services before an open-mic night in Norwood in 2004 showed him where he belonged.

You'll hear him discuss:

• Choosing not to have children, and the people who question that choice
• Why he wants to be a more present uncle
• How his comedy became fulfilling once it became personal
• Stepping back from film and television over pay and working conditions
• Working outside comedy cliques and on his own terms

Listen to the full conversation and follow Listen To Your Footsteps for more stories of how Africans find their way.

Ntosh Madlingozi: Instagram

Listen To Your Footsteps: https://kojobaffoe.com/podcast/

Singer, songwriter, and activist Simphiwe Dana sits down with host Kojo Baffoe to reflect on the moments that shaped her life and two-decade career. From childhood freedom by a river in Butterworth, to the night a friend unknowingly led her to the rest of her life, to the grief she still carries - this compilation of memorable moments explores purpose, vulnerability, and the spiritual weight of music.

Simphiwe speaks candidly about taking the biggest risk of her life, navigating fame as an introvert, raising children while recording her first album, and why she refuses to let artists die poor. It ends where she stands now — at the precipice of something new.

To hear the full conversation, listen to Listen to Your Footsteps Episode 84 - Simphiwe Dana, Raising Voice, Raising Children, Raising Spirit - wherever you get your podcasts.

What happens when the life you build refuses to follow a pattern?

South African writer, creative consultant, talent manager and producer Mahlatse James joins Kojo Baffoe for a conversation about fashion, identity and finding your way through a creative life.

From growing up in Lebowakgomo and attending school in Polokwane to navigating Johannesburg’s fashion and media spaces, Mahlatse reflects on learning to adapt without always knowing what comes next. He shares how conversations opened doors to writing and styling, what launching Lucky Boy Clothing taught him, and why a five-year plan could never have predicted the person he would become.

Together, Mahlatse and Kojo explore the versions of ourselves we bring into different rooms, the friendships that change as we grow, and the tension between creative enjoyment and earning a living. There is also a spirited exchange about personal style, familiar clothes and the possibility of finding more things that work.

As the questions begin travelling in both directions, the conversation becomes as much about how we live as what we do.

In this episode:

• Growing up between different social worlds and learning to belong.
• Building a creative career through relationships and unexpected opportunities.
• Fashion writing, personal style and the lessons of Lucky Boy Clothing.
• Working with image-makers and producing commercials.
• Writing for money, changing media models and the value of reputation.
• Returning to study and making room for another version of yourself.

Listen to Episode 148 of Listen to Your Footsteps. Follow the podcast for more conversations about African lives and creative journeys, and share this episode with someone finding their own way. If the conversation resonates, leave a rating or review wherever your platform allows.

#ListenToYourFootsteps #MahlatseJames #CreativeCareers #SouthAfricanFashion

In these Memorable Moments from Episode 92, former Bafana Bafana, Kaizer Chiefs and Sundowns legend Brian Baloyi reflects on the emotional rollercoaster of goalkeeping, the broken systems holding back black athletes and entertainers, and why retirement - not just in sports - is something we should all plan for. A conversation about failure, resilience, and leaving behind more than just money.

In Episode 147 of Listen to Your Footsteps, Kojo Baffoe speaks with Lebo Motswenyane, founder of Lucky No8 Concepts, about the relationships, decisions and unseen work behind event production.

From her childhood in Khuma, Klerksdorp, to a Rotary exchange in the United States and a career spanning Levi’s and Speakers Corner, Lebo reflects on the experiences that expanded her world and helped her find her own lane. She shares how public relations led her into events, and why becoming a mother helped shape her decision to start a business.

The conversation moves beyond the finished production: staying composed when things go wrong, working with clients and other agencies, paying people on time and giving young talent a chance. Lebo also speaks candidly about retrenching almost 30 people during COVID, winning Netflix business at a financial low point, and how those experiences changed her approach to responsibility and resilience.

Now, in what she calls her teaching era, she is thinking about the knowledge she can pass on, and how the business can grow without her being in every room.

A conversation about entrepreneurship, motherhood, belonging and the architecture of bringing people together.

Listen to the episode, follow Listen to Your Footsteps, and share it with someone building a business or finding their own way. If the conversation resonates, leave a rating or review on your listening platform.

#ListenToYourFootsteps #LeboMotswenyane #EventProduction #Entrepreneurship

In this LTYF Moments from the very first episode of Listen To Your Footsteps podcast, I look back at memorable moments from the conversation with Papama Mtwisha, founder of the children’s clothing label Butter Pudding and the ‘Africa Your Time Is Now’ fashion brand. We trace the path from dreaming of being a housewife to becoming a fashion designer, fashion editor, and ultimately an entrepreneur whose brand is worn across the continent.

We talk about the seven years an idea lived on an iPad before it became a business, the fear of walking away from a steady pay check when you have school fees and a bond, and why the name "Butter Pudding" - simple ingredients, timeless results - became the philosophy behind an entire brand.

From the "Africa is the Future" to the “Africa Your Time Is Now” movement to a deliberate decision to manufacture locally on the continent, this is a conversation about trusting your timing, defining success on your own terms, and what happens when the universe conspires to meet you exactly where you are.