In this episode, we talk to Nomsa Mazwai, an economist, musician, social entrepreneur and Fulbright scholar whose work sits at the intersection of community development, women's safety and creative expression. From pioneering Soweto Night Out – an innovative tourism initiative that creates safer public spaces while generating local economic opportunities – to developing bold new social enterprise ideas and recording music inspired by her own journey of resilience, Nomsa combines intellectual rigour with a deep commitment to service. In this candid conversation, she reflects on entrepreneurship, unemployment, faith, mental health, and the determination required to keep building solutions in the face of seemingly impossible challenges.

In this episode, we talk to Noelene Kotschan, the inspirational founder of PinkDrive NPC, a health NGO she launched in 2009 on the belief that “early detection will help prolong a life.” Under Noelene’s leadership, PinkDrive has become a lifeline for communities across South Africa, delivering free breast, cervical, prostate, and testicular cancer screening and education to people in areas where healthcare services seldom reach.

In this episode, we talk to Carol Dyantyi, a former student activist from the 1976 Soweto uprisings and founder of Ikageng Itireleng AIDS Ministry. Her journey from the struggle years to grassroots leadership is a story of resilience, service, and the belief that hope can take root anywhere. Now based in Ezimbuzini, on the outskirts of Soweto, Carol has transformed a once-neglected dumping site into a thriving community hub. Together, we explore her guiding philosophy that “even in broken communities, life can grow again.”

What happens when communities stop waiting for solutions and start collecting the evidence themselves? In this episode of This Way Up, environmental justice activist Ferial Adams reveals how citizen science is helping South Africans challenge water insecurity, expose failures, and drive real change.

From testing water quality to winning practical victories such as new water tanks, Ferial shares powerful stories of grassroots action, resilience, and the determination to ensure that every community has a voice in the fight for safe water.

In this episode, we talk to Chantal Nativel, who is helping transform the fight against river pollution in Johannesburg into something hopeful, practical and deeply community-driven. Motivated by her love of nature and concern for the environment, she launched a grassroots river cleanup initiative that brought together local residents, volunteers and businesses around a shared purpose.

What began on International Rivers Day quickly grew into something far bigger than a once-off cleanup. By focusing on collaboration, long-term thinking and community involvement, Chantal is helping build a movement around the restoration of Johannesburg’s rivers. Alongside environmental groups, experts and ordinary citizens, she is showing how collective action can reconnect people to the natural spaces running through the city.

The work is demanding, but the energy around it is contagious. Chantal’s story is a reminder that change does not always begin with large institutions or massive budgets. Sometimes it begins with one person deciding to care publicly and consistently enough that others start showing up too.

In this episode, we speak with Welcome Witbooi, a former Cape Flats gang leader who transformed his life to found the BrightSpark Foundation SA - an organisation that seeks to help and protect young people facing the challenges he did. Welcome shares his journey from prison to activism, his meeting with the family of the man he killed, and the profundity of true redemptive justice.

Bronwyn Jones is changing the landscape of waste management with Bokashi Bran, a revolutionary composting method that incorporates cooked food, meat products, and dairy. This method drastically reduces methane emissions from landfills, offering a potential 98% reduction in the carbon footprint per ton of food waste. Bokashi not only returns nutrients to depleted soils but also involves communities and commercial operations, making composting accessible even for those living in urban apartments. This sustainable approach is reshaping how households and businesses handle organic waste, promoting a more eco-friendly future.

Urban Surfer, founded by former waste picker Sifisi Gumbi, is revolutionising the recycling sector in South Africa by supporting waste reclaimers with tools, training, and formalised workspaces. Through innovative concepts such as reclaimer recycling camps and corporate partnerships, Urban Surfer not only improves working conditions but also integrates reclaimers into a revenue-sharing model. This grassroots approach, in collaboration with private landowners and corporations, addresses the dual issues of informal waste management and homelessness, creating a replicable model for sustainable urban development that aims to spread nationally across South Africa.

Welcome to This Way Up, the podcast that celebrates ordinary South Africans doing extraordinary things. Each episode reveals the stories of people who choose action over despair, whether feeding the hungry, clearing rivers or creating mobile clinics. Through these conversations, listeners discover what it takes to make a difference and find their own sense of hope and agency.