Awethu Fatyela-Mpondo

Writer ▪ Activist ▪ Researcher ▪ I dream of the laughing eyes & smiling faces of Black women & children.

[Awethu Fatyela-Mpondo @Awethu_F]

At 29 yrs old, I resigned from work & relocated to PE to be a full time student. At 29 yrs old, I took a chance on myself & at 33 I celebrate. This is for all the Black women in me who deserved a second chance 🎓 The journey continues...

[Wow, He’s Tsonga! @_aboihasnoname]

If someone at work tries to micromanage you, micromanage them back.

Send them too much feedback, ask them a lot of questions, do follow ups when they go quiet or even when you know they are busy don’t let them rest.

[Reagan Gomez @ReaganGomez]

Your first hit is always free.

[Mbuyiseni Ndlozi @MbuyiseniNdlozi]

Storms & heavy rains are devastating people lives in the Cape… the chap took platform to address us about not resigning & made zero mention of this weather crisis. Nothing about our people’s well-being in this difficult time!

For me this is the true measure of his leadership!

A simple note that there are those who are fighting flood waters that are drowning their homes, closure of schools and devastation of both private and public infrastructure. Including casualties. These people, as he spoke about not resigning as their president, most probably have no way of even hearing his message!

Terrible show of leadership!

[Zoya🕊️ @Zoya_ki_batein]

They just sexualized the shape of an ocean and then tell you that the problem is yours because of how you dress

[Awethu Fatyela-Mpondo @Awethu_F]

@ThulaniSundu From your finger tips to God's eyes. Thank you so much. That is my prayer 🙏🏾

[Awethu Fatyela-Mpondo @Awethu_F]

2025 vs 2026
Oh umntanam! ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

[‏ً @itsnwts]

“This version of motherhood is not available in your region”

[Awethu Fatyela-Mpondo @Awethu_F]

@KomradeGeorge Thank you Georgie. We are working hard this side 🥰

[Wandile Mthiyane @wandileubuntu]

I got into Harvard’s Master in Design Engineering because of an app I built to help people in townships and informal settlements design, build, and finance their own homes.

But I can’t afford to go.

So I decided to walk from Durban to Cape Town to raise the funds myself.

Along the way, I’ve had to spend money on proper hiking gear just to survive the journey. Today something incredible happened:@kway_za through. I even connected with the guy who designed my bag, and they’re now sponsoring some of my gear.

What’s wild is that my good friend @mbalimcdust encouraged me to write an article about my journey, and that article led to Cape Union Mart reaching out. A reminder that sharing your story can open unexpected doors.

I’m even willing to take a loan, but as an international student I can’t get one in the US, and I can’t access one here because I’m leaving to study overseas.

Like the youth of ’76, I’m done waiting. This walk is my small way of fighting to become the change I want to see in a crisis that’s deeply personal to me. Three decades into democracy, 2.5 million South Africans are still waiting for an RDP home. Some families have waited for decades. My aunt passed away still waiting.

Please support and share my journey.

GoFundMe:
https://t.co/kRb7dGtGij

Journey Trailer:
https://t.co/V7u4B63Cco

Try the AI housing platform here:
https://t.co/7wz64fWrIM

[𐌁𐌉Ᏽ 𐌕𐌉𐌌𐌉 @OrevaZSN]

No one wants to work anymore because the reward is gone. Half of us are living paycheck to paycheck, with no savings for retirement or a house. Two paychecks away from homelessness. This is not laziness, it is exhaustion.

[𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐮𝐤𝐮𝐧𝐚 ☢ @King_Sukunaaa]

Men are so creative when it comes to leaving their families

[Siphumelele Zondi @SZondi]

South Africa went through 500 years of colonialism & apartheid & all the dark things that go with that. No therapy. Just “forgive & forget” because “you are a rainbow nation now”. Today, beneficiaries of those unjust systems say there’s “a white genocide” & “140 racist laws”.

[Gabrielle Blair @designmom]

We didn’t fight to work. Women have ALWAYS worked. We fought to get paid.

[Sego 2 Stars⭐️⭐️ @_ladytopaz]

This technology should be at the home affairs offices and managed by the home affairs department and personnel. Not by banks…

[𝓑ᥫ᭡ @quesadaaa_]

So you admit that men's greatest fear is being treated like they have treated women? Hmm

[Awethu Fatyela-Mpondo @Awethu_F]

Main character energy ❤️‍🔥

[Praise @tufpraise]

Planes that land safely never make the news.

[Miyandy @Amahashi_]

We heard Nandi loud and clear. Her point was that Black men deserve grace because the system crushes them hardest: no money, no government support, 400 years of stacked odds, and constant pressure to succeed.

Our point is this: that same system hits Black women just as hard, often harder. Patriarchy. Single motherhood. Unpaid care work. Higher poverty rates. Sky high GBV risks but when women survive those exact conditions through informal hustles or sex work just to feed their families, they are shamed. Insulted. Called slurs. Told they have no dignity.

So men deserve grace for trying, but women are humiliated for trying to survive? You cannot demand grace from women while denying it to them in the same breath. That is selective empathy.

Grace is not a one way demand from women to men. It has to be mutual. Otherwise it is just another burden placed on the group that is already carrying the most.

[Awethu Fatyela-Mpondo @Awethu_F]

The proposed Eastern Cape name changes have sparked wide debate ahead of gazetting. Here’s an op-ed I wrote in 2024 on why geographical name changes matter and what they represent beyond the map.

Rewriting the narrative of our past, present and future https://t.co/0pnxQiap93