My name is
THANDWEFIKA TSHABALALA
I am a SAP Consultant, an award-winning storyteller, the founder of Africa’s biggest storytelling contest, a son, a husband, a father and a custodian of the Tshabalala legacy
BIOGRAPHY
Professionally, Thandwefika is an experienced SAP Consultant specialising on Digital Adoption strategies. He has helped businesses such as Anglo American, BHP Billiton and SASOL guide their employees through large scale system changes.
Thandwefika is also an award-winning storyteller, whose work has earned him the title of Toastmasters Southern Africa Champion of Public Speaking 2019.
Through his travels, he has sought and heard the many stories of ordinary Africans. These stories have had such an impact on him that he has come to believe that all Africans should travel their continent first.
This has led him to cofound and chair Hadithi Ya Africa, an organisation that owns and administrates the biggest storytelling contest in Africa, and creates immersive excursions to numerous African countries.
Through his touring company called Come Meet Africa, Thandwefika is on a crusade to make African travel more accessible to Africans so that they can tell their own story of Africa.
Accomplishments
I have helped, joined or started many projects over the years, but i am particularly proud of these ones.
Midnight train to Beira
We led a relief aid project that collected and delivered 60 tonnes of food aid in response to cycle Idaih that hit Beira Mozambique in 2018.
Africa’s Ultimate Storyteller contest
We built an Africa wide storytelling contest with 27 participating countries. These we original stories told by Africans about an African existence in 6 different languages. I still do not know how we failed to comercialise this.
Hadithi ya Africa
We ran a live storytelling platform similar to the Moth across 4 South African cities. we created an experience that allowed education to happen, adressing several social ills in our society.
Souther African Champion of public Speaking
I was crowned Southern Africa Toastmaster champion of public speaking. I still habour a desire to reenter and compete globally in a few years.
BURNING DESIRES
MY CURRENT passion PROJECTS
VUMA DUDUZA
I had a dream of taking my consulting skills and using them to build a low cost Chesa Nyama styled “kasi franchise”. But, COVID said no and sent us all home.
Post COVID, we had lost so much traction that it was tantamount to starting all over again.
It’s a few years later and I have recently reignited this project by making a second capital injection into the business, appointed a new manager and we are planning a relaunch in the last quarter of 2024.
an author is born
I have three books inside me that must be written:
- A legacy manual for my children and descendants. This book will focus on our clans history and identity and what it means to be a diaspora of Tshabalala in modern day South Africa
- Models for life. This book is a collection of models I have created over the years to make sense of important philosophical questions i have had to ask myself
- A recipe book so that my great great grand children can taste my braai
The first of the books has a due date of September 2024.
Annual 4×4 tour of discovery
Now in its 8th year, the 4×4 Tour of Discovery is a “male only”, “by invitation only” easter weekend trip exploring cultural, historical, geological and archeological sites around the Sterkspruit region and surrounding Eastern Cape towns.
Of course I am responsible for feeding the masses. Ask me for an invite one year so you can taste my braai.
We are now trying to get this funded and formalised so we can accomodate more people.
