Shifting Gears

Actress Nomzamo Mbatha has turned her celebrity status into a platform for powerful activism, from humanitarian work with refugees across Africa to tackling mental health, #MeToo and everyday sexism.

- Holly Meadows

You’ve recently come back from your TED Talk at Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. What did you speak about?

‘The need to challenge and change the narrative of how the world views refugees – the little kid with the fly on his face. That’s not who our displaced brothers and sisters are. I was there to speak about my experiences of the human behind the label, and how important it is for us to understand that when we are given only the stats, everybody becomes a number. When we speak about an individual, we begin to have compassion and relate to that person. “Think of the individual” was definitely my direction in the talk.’

What is your role as the UNHCR’s LuQuLuQu campaign advocate?

‘One of the causes of conflict is tribalism (and culturalism). Those things are created not only by physical borders but by mental borders as well. When someone tells you where they’re from, you immediately develop a judgment about who they are. We need to remove these mental borders. My role is to lend a voice and lift the lid of invisibility – to say that we are more alike than we are different.’

Why is the plight of refugees important to you?

‘My grandmother was abducted at a young age in the Eastern Cape (where there’s a traditional practice known as ukuthwala) and forced into marriage. She ran away a few years later to Durban, to start a new life. Back then, Zulus were extremely hostile towards Xhosas – if anybody didn’t speak their language, they were like, “Hey, where do you come from?” Her ability to overcome and to rebuild has inherently – indirectly but directly – made me into a woman able to overcome and rebuild in whichever society I am in.’

How do you use your celebrity status to effect change?