Nonhlanhla Mkhize is an experienced factotum in the LGBTQ community
Nonhlanhla Mkhize is an experienced factotum in the LGBTQ community
Nonhlanhla “MC” Mkhize, is a human rights defender and social anthropologist. As an advocate for humanity, Nohlanhla is excited about and therefore involves herself in a variety of activities. Primarily she educates about, supports and defends human rights – however, when she can’t, or has limited to no resource; she reaches out for help.
She has been associated with the Lesbian and Gay Community and Health Centre as its Manager, Executive Director and now Technical Lead throughout KZN since 2001. The Centre is an NGO that provides a safe and secure space for lesbian, transgender, gay, bisexual and intersex communities in Durban and KwaZulu-Natal. Nonhlanhla became a factotum due to funding constraints over time which meant adapting and adding other roles such as Human Rights Educator, Advocacy Officer, Marketing, Researcher, Monitoring & Evaluation, Human Resource as well as distributing condoms, delivering treatments during Covid-19, doing door-to-door visits, providing care, etc.
Since 2006 to date, she has been a Member, Treasurer and Chairperson of Amnesty International South Africa – Durban Chapter; Coordinates Durban Pride Liberation March, provide support to various LGBTI, Youth, Women, Children and Business e.g., the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, KZN Gay and Lesbian Tourism, and is affiliated to a number of structures such as the KZN Network on Violence Against Women, Children’s Rights Centre, Active Citizens Movement, Climate Change, etc.
What many may not know about Mkhize is what or who have been the influential characters in her life and what motivates her to carry out all these important and enormous humanitarian tasks.
Mkhize grew up in Hammarsdale known as Mpumalanga Township. She describes her family as small yet large, as it was not your typical mom and dad and children set up, but rather a family of two homesteads – one belonging to her great grandparents and the other comprising of her grandparents, mom, aunt, two uncles, and two siblings.
As a result, it took her a while to realise she was the first born to her mother as she was the last for a while during critical formative years. “The setting was such that as children we did not just belong to our immediate or primary families, but were raised by the community. We respected all elders, ran errands and were reprimanded by anyone who felt you had erred. We therefore played, learned, were naughty, went to school and church together,” recalls Mkhize.
Her Primary Education was at Mpumalanga (eNtendeleni and oKhozini) and she completed her High School years at Sacred Heart Convent in Verulam where they were indoctrinated with religious studies as well as languages, science, accounting, business, fine arts, life skills, etc. She studied Anthropology, Law, Psychology and Public Health at UND/UKZN and HIV & Youth Development at UNISA.
Mkhize was raised primarily by a generation of conservative, modest, religious elders who did everything they could to make ends meet by making the most of the little there was. Her uncles and aunts used their own skills and talents to make a living. Education, while important, was regarded as equally important as community service. Education and discipline were key and so were notions of selflessness, striving for excellence, putting others before you, and sharing what you have with those less fortunate. These were the attributes that Nonhlanhla aspired to reflect and still practices to this day.
Nonhlanhla regards her strongest influencers in life as her grandmother and great grandparents who groomed her behaviour. The late Ronald Louw and Pius Langa were her ethics, politics and law mentors. “I’m a student of the world, so lessons from the people I meet, work with, the communities whose lives we seek to improve – all inspire and influence me in many ways,” observes Mkhize.
Passionate about Community Services and Social Engagement, Mkhize is most proud of what human rights movements have accomplished for key and vulnerable groups at this point in our lives, such as the 1996 Decriminalisation of sex among consenting adults, an inclusive definition of family, emancipation of women, improved sexual and reproductive health and rights programmes – including access to ART, to the 2006 Marriage Equality, and now comprehensive definition of rape, inclusive learning spaces, Gender Marker changes, Hate Crime and Hate Speech Bill, and hopefully soon the decriminalisation of Sex Work to mention but a few.
A typical home body, Mkhize’s idea of leisure time is doing household chores and DIY projects. Given a chance to do things differently, Nonhlanhla says she would invest more energy in creating safe spaces and recreational activities (towards job creation, safety and improved physical and mental wellness).
One problem in the world she hopes to see solved within her lifetime is identifying and implementing practical solutions to minimise mental illness. We are not okay as a society, and she believes talking about it is one solution, but we can explore other, more sustainable and progressive methods.
Mkhize’s vision for the future is one where we share memories, capture lived experiences and learnings about life into readable form, podcasts or short films/documentaries so that we tell before we die, lest others, future generations forget and perhaps even repeat our mistakes.
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