This Way Up South Africa

What if changing the world doesn't always mean fighting harder, shouting louder or working longer? In the first of our special Rethinking Activism in Africa conversations, activist and author Mark Heywood talks to Zandile Mqwathi about a radically different approach to social change. Drawing on her own journey from a young mother diagnosed with HIV to an activist and drama therapist, Zandile challenges the idea that commitment must come at the cost of exhaustion. She explores how rest can be an act of resistance, how theatre and storytelling can help us imagine a different future, and why kindness, joy and love belong at the heart of activism. It's a warm, thought-provoking conversation that asks us to reconsider not only what we're fighting for, but how we go about it.

After more than 40 years fighting for human rights and social justice, Mark Heywood is still angry about injustice — and still convinced we can do something about it. A co-founder of South Africa’s Treatment Action Campaign, Mark joins us to talk about his new book, Rethinking Activism in Africa, and the remarkable people across the continent who are finding new ways to bring about change.

We talk about the worrying rise of xenophobia in South Africa, his determination to help fix the country's struggling healthcare system, and why activism shouldn't be left to the activists. But this isn't a conversation about everything that's wrong with the world. It's about the people doing something to put it right, why there's still plenty of reason for hope, and how making a difference can start right on your own doorstep.

Abandoned by her mother at the age of three, Angela Yeung grew up knowing what it meant to struggle, but never stopped believing in what she could achieve. From hiding beneath her father's office desk as a child to building a successful jewellery business and standing on the summit of Mount Everest, she has an extraordinary story of courage and determination. But Angela's greatest ambition isn't to conquer mountains. It's to change lives. Through her Impilo Collection Foundation, she is restoring dignity and hope to women affected by gender-based violence. She shares the deeply moving story of finding her mother after decades apart, the strength she has drawn from adversity, and her belief that we all have a diamond within us, waiting to shine.

Mandisa Jackson speaks openly about surviving an abusive marriage, imprisonment, having stage 3 cancer, and finding purpose in supporting others. Through Hillbrow Radio and the community volunteers she calls her GBV Warriors, she helps women facing violence, takes anti-bullying programmes into schools and brings neighbours together across nationalities. She tells us about her faith, the need for financial independence and what it takes to turn concern for your community into practical action.

What if the problem you once struggled to overcome could become your purpose? Entrepreneur and single mother Banele Manana founded the Be an Angel Foundation to give young people something she never had: the chance to explore different careers through practical, hands-on experience. She talks about building her own successful business, creating career exploration camps, and why hope begins when young people can see possibilities beyond the world they already know.

In this episode, we hear from the amazing Joni Brenner, an artist helping a cooperative of women in Zimbabwe to produce beads that are not just beautiful necklaces but also an enterprise that sustains the livelihoods of women and their families. Joni shares how it all began with a “happy accident,” which led to collaborations with William Kentridge, among others, and how openness and serendipity foster creativity.

In this episode, we talk to Nomsa Mazwai, an economist, musician, social entrepreneur and Fulbright scholar whose work offers a distinctive perspective on community development South Africa. From pioneering Soweto Night Out, an innovative tourism initiative designed to create safer public spaces while generating local economic opportunities, to developing new social enterprise ideas and recording music inspired by her own journey, Nomsa combines intellectual rigour with a deep commitment to service.

Nomsa's work crosses boundaries between economics, creativity and community action. Rather than treating unemployment, safety and inequality as separate problems, she is interested in how ideas can create practical opportunities for people while strengthening the places in which they live.

One example is Soweto Night Out, an initiative that reimagines how people experience Soweto after dark. The idea connects tourism with local economic activity and safer public spaces, demonstrating how social entrepreneurship can address several needs at once. Visitors gain a different experience of Soweto while local communities have the opportunity to benefit economically.

In our conversation, Nomsa talks candidly about entrepreneurship and what it takes to keep developing ideas when success is far from guaranteed. We discuss unemployment in South Africa, innovation, leadership and the challenge of turning ambitious concepts into sustainable projects.

For Nomsa, community development South Africa needs cannot be separated from economic opportunity. People need more than encouragement: they need ways to participate, earn, create and build. Her approach is rooted in finding practical connections between individual initiative and wider social change.

We also explore the personal side of that work. Nomsa reflects on resilience, faith and mental health, and on the determination required to continue creating when circumstances become difficult. Her music provides another form of expression, allowing her to explore experiences and ideas that do not necessarily fit within the language of economics or entrepreneurship.

The conversation moves between the personal and the political, from creative expression and purpose to women's safety, community projects and the economic pressures facing many South Africans. Nomsa is particularly interested in solutions that recognise the strengths already present within communities rather than assuming change must always come from outside.

Her work also raises wider questions about social impact. What makes an idea genuinely useful? How do you create opportunities that benefit more than one person? And how can innovation help communities respond to problems that may otherwise seem too large or entrenched to change?

Community development in South Africa requires imagination as well as persistence. Nomsa's journey shows both: a willingness to think differently about familiar problems and the resilience to keep working when an idea encounters obstacles.

This is a conversation about entrepreneurship, community, women's safety, social change, creativity and the determination to keep building solutions even when the challenges appear impossible.

Noelene Kotschan is the founder and CEO of PinkDrive, a pioneering organisation changing cancer screening in South Africa by taking vital health services directly to communities.

What began as a response to the devastating impact of breast cancer has grown into a nationwide effort to make early detection accessible to people who might otherwise struggle to reach screening services. PinkDrive's mobile health units travel across South Africa, bringing cancer screening and health education closer to the people who need them.

In our conversation, Noelene talks about the realities of cancer in South Africa and why early detection can make such an enormous difference. She explains how PinkDrive works, the challenges of reaching underserved communities and why taking screening services directly to people can remove some of the barriers that prevent cancers being detected early.

But this is also the story of how one person's determination can grow into something much bigger. Noelene talks candidly about building PinkDrive, finding the support needed to keep it moving and the persistence required to turn an idea into an organisation capable of creating real social impact.

We also explore the wider inequalities surrounding healthcare in South Africa. Where you live, what you earn and whether you can easily reach a health facility can all affect access to screening. PinkDrive's approach is deliberately practical: instead of waiting for people to find the service, the service goes to them.

The conversation ranges from breast cancer and cancer screening to community health, early detection and the extraordinary amount of work that goes on behind the scenes to keep mobile health services on the road. Noelene also reflects on what she has learned from the people and communities PinkDrive has encountered along the way.

This is a conversation about cancer South Africa cannot afford to ignore, but it is also about solutions: what becomes possible when healthcare is taken beyond conventional facilities and directly into communities.

Noelene's story demonstrates how an ambitious idea can become practical action, and how persistence, partnerships and community engagement can help make potentially life-saving services accessible to more South Africans.

Carol's approach is rooted in the belief that lasting change cannot simply be imposed from outside. It grows through relationships, trust and an understanding of what people actually need. Her work combines compassion with action, helping individuals and families build greater security while strengthening the communities around them.

In this conversation, Carol talks about the experiences that led her to this work and the realities she encounters on the ground. We discuss poverty, inequality, women's empowerment and the pressures facing children and families in communities where opportunities can be painfully limited.

Her story is also about resilience. Carol has seen what happens when people are given support rather than written off, and when communities are encouraged to recognise their own strengths. For her, community development South Africa needs is not about arriving with ready-made answers. It means listening, building relationships and helping people develop solutions that can endure.

Through Uzima, Carol has worked to create safer environments and opportunities for people whose lives may have been shaped by circumstances beyond their control. We talk about the importance of empowering women, protecting children and addressing the social conditions that leave people vulnerable.

Carol also reflects on leadership and service. Community projects can begin with ambitious ideas, but their real impact is measured in individual lives: a child who feels safe, a woman who begins to see new possibilities, or a family that receives the support it needs to move forward.

Our conversation explores social change South Africa is still working towards, the importance of community action and why grassroots organisations matter. We discuss women's empowerment in South Africa, the challenges facing vulnerable communities and the determination required to continue working when the scale of the problems can seem overwhelming.

Community development in South Africa can sustain itself if people are prepared to stay involved for the long term. Carol's work is grounded in that commitment: not simply identifying what is wrong, but continuing to build relationships, create opportunities and help people imagine something better.

This is a conversation about community, resilience, women, children and hope. Carol's story reminds us that meaningful social impact does not always arrive through dramatic interventions. Sometimes it grows slowly, through people who keep showing up and doing the work..”

Ferial Adams is an environmental justice activist showing how citizen science can give ordinary people the evidence they need to fight for clean, safe water. Across South Africa, communities struggling with water pollution are often told there is no problem, or wait months and even years for action. Ferial's work demonstrates how testing the water themselves can begin to change that.

Through WaterCAN, Ferial has helped put simple water-testing tools into the hands of communities, enabling people to collect evidence about the quality of the water they drink and the rivers and streams around them. Citizen science turns frustration into something much harder to dismiss: data.

In our conversation, Ferial explains how citizen science works in practice and why access to reliable information matters. We talk about water quality in South Africa, environmental activism and what happens when communities are given the tools to investigate problems for themselves rather than having to wait for authorities to act.

She shares stories of communities that have used water testing to expose contamination and push for practical change. One particularly striking example comes from KwaZulu-Natal, where a community that had lived without piped water for years was able to produce evidence of contamination. The result was action: water tanks arrived and piped water followed.

But this conversation goes beyond water testing. Ferial talks about environmental justice, community action and the importance of ensuring that people have both a voice and the evidence to support it. Her work challenges the idea that science belongs only in laboratories or universities. Citizen science can happen in homes, neighbourhoods and beside polluted rivers, wherever people need reliable information about the environment around them.

We also explore the wider problem of water pollution in South Africa and the gap that can exist between official assurances and people's everyday experience. For communities living with unsafe or unreliable water, collecting their own evidence can be a powerful first step towards demanding accountability.

Ferial's story is ultimately about what happens when knowledge becomes practical. Citizen science does not replace scientists, municipalities or government agencies, but it can give communities a way to participate, ask better questions and demonstrate when something is wrong.

This is a conversation about clean water, environmental activism, social change and the power of communities to become active participants in protecting their own environment. It is also a reminder that sometimes change begins with something surprisingly simple: testing the water and finding out what is really there.