What happens when your first heartbreak is your mother?

In this deeply personal episode, author and coach Moshitadi Lehlomela joins Nozibele Qamngana-Mayaba to talk about the quiet pain many people carry --the mother wound.

Moshitadi shares how she first recognised her own wound at university, when anxiety and depression began to surface.

“I realised that I had a mother wound in varsity,” she says. “I felt alone. I felt defective.”

Nozi opens up with empathy and honesty, creating a safe space for a conversation about pain, forgiveness, and self-discovery. Together, they unpack how childhood wounds resurface in adulthood, how to unlearn toxic patterns, and what it means to mother yourself with compassion.

“You’ve already done great work so far,” Moshitadi reminds listeners. “Maybe the coping mechanisms you developed are not healthy, but you’ve been doing your best trying to protect yourself.”

This conversation is about healing, identity, and finding peace -- even when the love that shaped you also left a scar.

More about Moshitadi Lehlomela

Moshitadi Lehlomela is a writer, coach, and entrepreneur who helps people heal from the mother wound — the deep emotional scars left by maternal pain. She’s the author of The Girl Who Survived Her Mother and Healing the Mother Wound, and through her work she guides others toward self-love, emotional freedom, and breaking generational patterns.

Core production team:

Nozibele Qamngana-Mayaba – Host

Wanjiku Mwaura – Lead Producer (DW)

Silja Fröhlich – Lead Producer (DW)

Asumpta Lattus – Executive Producer (DW)

Diane Macpherson – Executive Producer (Kagiso Media Radio)

Ntsikelelo Khanyile – Production Assistant (Kagiso Media Radio)

Wandile Langeni – Production Assistant (Kagiso Media Radio)

Thandiwe Nkoana – Lead Videographer & Editor

Ronnie Nkoana – Assistant Videographer

#DontHoldBack #HealingTheMotherWound #MoshitadiLehlomela #SelfLoveJourney #NozibeleQamnganaMayaba Catch up with our host Nozibele · More information about this podcast · The 77 Percent (DW Africa)