Anele Nzimande Interview

Anele Nzimande is one of the six contestants on the show Oneday leader. This 19 year old uses her name as a point of reference for overcoming obstacles in her life, the English translation of Anele is ‘enough’ and she constantly remind herself that she exactly that, enough. She says even though people may judge your character just be yourself and stay true to yourself eventually people will come to know the real you. She has intense love for poetry, writing, politics and she’s all for women empowerment and all those elements come through in this interview.

Youth Village: Briefly tell us about yourself?

Anele: I was born to a phenomenal woman and a man whose kindness inspires me. I grew up in Kwa-Zulu Natal, in the sunny city of Durban along with my elder sister and brother and my twin sister – Andile Nzimande.
I am a young black woman with a flair for writing, an intense love for poetry, politics and women empowerment. I am ever grateful for the fact that black women are finally taking their place as prominent and credible leaders in society.

Youth Village: How important is education to you?

Anele: Education is absolutely pivotal. It ensures the growth and continuity of our thoughts, ideas and our world. Education isn’t meant to be rigid; it is ever changing, constantly evolving along with this and is reflective of the people of that time. Education is not only important for developing ourselves, it is also a means of reference – it shows us the strides we have taken as mankind in the pursuit of knowledge and the betterment of ourselves.

Youth Village: What made you enter One Day leader?

Anele: I watched the entire first season of One Day Leader and I remember not being satisfied with just engaging with the issues discussed on the show from the comfort of my couch. I wanted to be part of the action and speak for the youth of today – and now, here I am!

Youth Village: What is your definition of a leader?

Anele: Leadership is the measure of the impact you have on the lives of others around you. If you can inspire people to act, to believe in themselves because of you and to challenge the status quo – you are a leader.  Leadership should always move others to act.

Youth Village: What do you think of current status of our leaders?

Anele: We need more leaders who will uphold their word and the promises that they make. Let us not take advantage of the goodness of South Africans, it isn’t fair.
Our leaders need to start delivering basic services to the people of this country in the time that they say they will. Not keeping your word to the people who have entrusted you with their lives is showing a lack of integrity. For what are we – if not our words?

Youth Village: Do you think a lot of work has been done on the ground level for South African people?

Anele: No. Our only shot at survival in this world is education and the disparity in wealth in our country inhibits very many people from getting a quality education. We are not looking for hand-outs – all we are looking for is a fair chance to make a life for ourselves and a quality education for all South Africans should be prioritized by our government.

Youth Village: Today we see African women taking leadership positions politically and business wise. In your opinion why did it take them long to enter this era? 

Anele: African culture is very patriarchal in nature. Women have been subjected to a lot of scorn for wanting to be leaders and for not being satisfied with ‘motherhood’ being their only accomplishment. African women also experience lots of infighting, instead of other women singing your praises and supporting you, they are the first to perpetuate the hate.
Regardless of how long it has taken, it is such a relief to see African women taking centre stage globally. Africa even boasts two of the world’s female presidents – which, in my opinion – is quite a phenomenal thing!

Youth Village: Do you think gender matters when it comes to leadership?

Anele: Not at all.

Youth Village: If you were the president for a day which three things you would change? And why?

Anele: I would create a national campaign against rape and women abuse, which have been recurring issues in this country in the past couple of months. The campaign would be focused on getting the men of this country involved and speaking about rape. I think that government needs to take the enlightened lead and set the example by showing no tolerance for rapists. We can never have effective female leaders if they don’t feel safe in their own country.
One of the other things I would do is to initiate a national reading and writing campaign to encourage reading and writing in the country. The campaign would focus both on indigenous languages and English and I have no doubt that we would get some excellent books written – South Africans have some wonderful stories to share with the world. It could be called something like ‘Writing for the President.’
The final thing I would change, or initiate, is the way that non-South Africans are perceived in the country. I believe that one of the ways in which we can prosper and succeed as a country is by being willing to accept fellow Africans into our borders – legally of course – and engage in an exchange of skills and trade. We need to start empowering each other as Africans because we all share a history of oppression and exploitation, and we will not be responsible for doing these things to one another.

Youth Village: What have you learned from the show so far?

Anele: You have to be self-knowing. Some people will make conclusions about you based on the way that you look, speak and carry yourself – but in the end they see you for who you are. The truth doesn’t need defending. Eventually people come to know the real you.

Youth Village: Who is your biggest competition on the show?

Anele: Bongekile Radebe. We are both very strong black women and some of our ideas overlap and so I always have to make sure that I set myself apart from her – which I believe I have done very successfully.

Youth Village: Being chosen as one of the contestants on Oneday Leader does reflect your potential as a leader. How are you going to implement what you have learned from this show to improve your community and SA in general?  

Anele: The show teaches you that people don’t want a leader who is detached from the issues. We are forced to engage with the members of the community, to sweep the streets when they are – if that’s what they do – and to fully become a part of the organisation. This has taught me that people want to know that you are willing to step into their shoes and are willing to understand their struggle.
Even when people know you can solve their problems, they don’t want you to do it from a place of detachment.

Youth Village: After doing the FET Colleges task on One Day Leader and through your own analysis, where has the education system failed? And what needs to be done to improve it?

Anele: The education system does not do enough to deal with the stigma surrounding FET Colleges. This is due to the dissemination of inaccurate information around FET Colleges and not enough integration of FETs in the Life Orientation curriculum. We need a curriculum that is economically relevant and that meets the demands of the community. Furthermore, we need to restore the dignity of FET colleges by encouraging private companies to invest in them and equipping them with the necessary resources that will enable the students to perform.

Youth Village: Violence and abuse against women and children is rising in this country. As a young woman what are thoughts?

Anele: I want my daughters to grow up in a society where they are unafraid. As women – we cannot stand for any kind of abuse. Perpetrators should be reported and the government needs to ensure that there are measures in place to protect women who have been raped and abused. The South African Police Service needs to show no tolerance for rapists and men who abuse women.

Youth Village:  What is your advice to youth out there?

Anele: ‘If we wait until we are ready, we will be waiting for the rest of our lives.’ Anything worth doing will always be daunting – do it anyway.