Global kudos for humble SA activist

Meetings with Bono and the Obamas now all in a day’s work

● Mpumi Nobiva has overcome much adversity and hardship, from being chased from a shack she lived in with her family to being hit by a car, nearly burnt alive and losing her mother to HIV/Aids as a young girl.

Now the South African motivational speaker and activist sits at the table with some of the most influential philanthropists in the world, including Irish rocker Bono and former US first couple Barack and Michelle Obama.

Nobiva, 26, who was one of the first graduates of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls and is now on the board, was honoured in the US recently for her advocacy work on domestic violence and HIV/AIDS advocacy in Southern Africa. She received the Janice Mirikitani Legacy Award at the 10th annual Glide Legacy Gala in San Francisco.

According to organisers, the awards “honour individuals and groups who have made an impact on communities with their unique talents, innovative leadership and passion”.

Her win was celebrated by many, including rock band U2’s frontman Bono, who said she had inspired him to “keep serving” mankind.

Speaking to the Sunday Times this week, Nobiva — who now lives in Los Angeles — said she was honoured by the award but was conflicted about accepting the prize when femicide and gender-based violence were making headlines in her home country.

“It was the strength of women in SA, despite their struggles, that gave me the strength to show up. No time or space can distance me from the cause in SA. I am South African and SA is me, and SA was with me in San Francisco, but it was with a heavy heart.”

Nobiva’s advocacy comes from deeply personal experiences of hardship. Shortly after she was born in 1993 her family was forced to flee their shack in the township of Zonkizizwe, southeast of Johannesburg, because of their affiliation to the ANC.

They moved from shack to shack with little hope, but always preaching to Nobiva about the power of education to lift her out of poverty.

“There were a lot of scars in my childhood,” she said. “When I was young I was hit by cars. I got burnt in shack fires that could have taken my life. Name it, I have experienced it. It left me with scars and a lot of gratitude for life.”

Nobiva was eight when she found out her mother was dying. “She was pale and a rash had started to break out. She was very skinny. I arrived home one day and she told me we needed to talk. She told me: ‘Mommy is going to die. I am HIV-positive.’ It was as if she could feel my heart break because she just held me close and told me: ‘You have to continue. Promise me that you will work hard and be kind.’”

Heartbroken but determined to make her mother proud, Nobiva worked hard at school until one day she was selected to interview for a spot at the Winfrey academy.

After several rounds of interviews she met Winfrey. “When I walked into the interview room I saw this majestic woman sitting on a chair. There was a glow about her. She just smiled at me and asked me what was the most difficult thing I have had to overcome, and I said losing my mom.”

It started a bond between the women that inspired Nobiva to give back to her community and others, like her mother, who were affected by HIV.

Under Winfrey’s leadership, Nobiva met US actress Cicely Tyson, actor Tyler Perry and Nelson Mandela. She said the greatest advice her mentor gave her was that despite her upbringing she is “enough”.

“She taught me that I am worthy of every hope and dream. I didn’t always believe that. I still have physical and emotional scars from my childhood and where I came from it was very hard to believe that you can become your biggest dream. She would say: ‘You are already enough as you are.’”

Nobiva moved to the US to study and acquired a master’s degree in strategic communications from High Point University. She started several initiatives and outreach organisations in SA.

She first met the Obamas while doing work with the Winfrey academy and has since met with them on several occasions to discuss advocacy work in Southern Africa. She is also developing the digital infrastructure for Share Your Story Africa — an initiative inspired by her advocacy work uniting young people against HIV/Aids and domestic violence.

She told me we needed to talk. She told me ‘Mommy is going to die. I am HIV-positive.’ It was as if she could feel my heartbreak because she just held me close

Mpumi Nobiva, below