(From Top Left to Bottom Right) Orthalia Kunene, Nonkululeko Radebe, Thabile Mdhluli, Mpho Masilo, Rina Mankoele Lekoloane and Asanda Bikitsha.
The 6 fellows will spend the next four months being trained and equipped with campaigning skills and tools so that we can better support amandla.mobi members like you to win more campaigns for justice. We look forward to working with them to build people-power in their communities.
Ortalia Kunene
Orthalia Kunene is a queer researcher and ecofeminist committed to gender and climate justice. She holds a BA Honours in Development Studies from the University of Johannesburg, where she focused on the experiences of anti-mining activists in Xolobeni, and is currently completing her Master’s in Development Studies at the University of South Africa. Her activism combines research, ecofeminist inquiry, and movement building to centre the voices of women and queer activists in the struggle against extractivism.
Nonkululeko Radebe
Nonkululeko Pertunia Radebe is a contemporary black female artist from Soweto. She holds a diploma in Business Management and has her own organisation called The South African Women in Film Arts and Culture Creatives, where she uses visual arts as a social justice tool. Nonkululeko’s accolades include a residency award from Soweto Fine Art Gallery and the best art competition 2021, which was exhibited in Switzerland. “I believe in change and possess a remarkable ability to listen to others with genuine care and understanding.”
Thabile Mdhluli
Thabile Mdhluli is a first-year master’s candidate in Political Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). She holds an Honours degree in Political Sciences from UKZN and an undergraduate degree in Political Sciences and History from the University of Zululand. Thabile is passionate about youth development and believes that young people should be given the opportunity to lead and actively participate in key decision-making processes that shape their futures. Thabile is committed to driving meaningful change and aspires to contribute to building inclusive and representative political systems in South Africa and beyond.
Mpho Masilo
Mpho Masilo is a passionate community development practitioner and human rights advocate from Soweto. She continues to dedicate her expertise to advancing human rights, mentoring emerging leaders, and driving community-based solutions for social change. Mpho began as a facilitator at the Soweto HIV/AIDS Counsellors Association, later working as a fieldworker at the Headway Brain Injury Association. She advanced into leadership roles, serving as Project Manager at the Siyalulama Trauma Survivors Organisation and as Projects and Training Manager at People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA), where she worked extensively with survivors of gender-based violence, creating safe spaces and delivering impactful training programs. In 2020, Mpho was selected and sponsored to participate in the Global Change Leaders Program at the Coady Institute, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. In 2021, she was appointed as a Pan-African Change Leader Patron, further affirming her role as a continental voice for social transformation.
Rina Mankoele Lekoloane
Mankoele Rina Lekoloane worked at a municipality in the rural areas, She witnessed first hand how incompetence and unnecessary delays from those in power negatively impacted communities. What was deemed as ”small issues” left unresolved often led to devastating consequences for ordinary people. Those experiences awakened the activist in her and pushed her to question the system, yearn for accountability and begin her journey of change.
Her daughter fuels her purpose. She motivates her to fight for a world where black women, especially unambiguous black women, are the standard of beauty and protected from the cycles of trauma that have defined generations before them.
Asanda Bikitsha
Asanda Bikitsha is Eastern Cape-born and raised. She was propelled to the fight for social justice by her experiences, the experiences of the women in her life, which are the experiences of many black women from low-income backgrounds. She has facilitated workshops and focus groups on the energy crisis, corruption and voting. Can be described as a passionate civic educator, who believes in electoral reform, accountability and justice more than she believes in herself. Knowledge is power, and everyone should have access to it. Holds an honours degree in Politics and International Relations.