#139 - #Herstory - Getting to know Mmatshilo Motsei

In this last Episode of the series ‘Her-Story’, I’m in conversation with the powerful Mmatshilo Motsei 

She is an author, speaker and spiritual health coach with a keen interest in integrating indigenous wisdom with modern innovations. With an MA in Creative Writing, she started her career as a nurse, midwife, psychology graduate, social science researcher and rural development facilitator. 

She is currently registered for a PhD in Sociology at the University of Pretoria focusing on obstetric violence with a view of challenging feminist erasure of indigenous midwifery in their critique of medicalisation of childbirth.  

For over 10 years, she worked as a Founding Director Agisanang Domestic Abuse Prevention and Training (ADAPT), an organisation working on domestic and sexual violence based in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg. 

She was also involved as a co-founder of Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy for Women based in Johannesburg. In addition to working with women, she has been instrumental in involving men as part of the solution to violence against women. In 1997, she organised the first men’s march against rape in Alexandra Township. Part of her work with men include using art as a tool for healing for men in and out of prison.

In 2014, she was contracted by HIVOS in Harare to replicate a model that integrates gender, gender violence and microcredit finance with rural women across Zimbabwe. She has worked with women across Africa. This includes working with women who were raped during the war in Mogadishu, Somalia. Beyond Africa, she has worked with various institutions in USA, Australia, Canada, Europe and Nepal.

In October 2013, she undertook a 7 day climb of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for Tsogang Basadi Orphans Project in Maviljan village, Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga.

She is the author of several books, Hearing Visions Seeing Voices as well as The Kanga and the Kangaroo Court: Reflections on the Rape Trial of Jacob Zuma, Reweaving the Soul of the Nation, a collection of essays on African spirituality, politics and feminism. She has also published a collection of poetry in Setswana and English, Sesesedi Whirlwind.

She is the Founding Director of Afrika Ikalafe Centre for Spirituality and Health. Aptly called Afrika Ikalafe, which means Afrika Heal Thyself, the work of the Centre serves as an invitation for Africa to challenge the lie of its inferiority and powerlessness. Her current project, Marumo Fatshe, is advocating for an exploration of the African indigenous healing justice framework in responding to gender-based violence in South Africa.  

Contacts: 

Facebook: Mmatshilo Tumelo Motsei
Twitter: @motseiwamollo
Instagram: @mmatshilomotsei
Email: mmatshilomotsei@gmail.com