It was the simple act of interacting with children in her neighbourhood that led Nomzamo Mfikili to the realisation that she could make a difference by teaching them about their heritage and how dance fits in with that.
Those interactions led to the birth of Izilo Zakwantu (Xhosa beast), an organisation running in Airport Valley in Walmer Township.
Nzwana Mveni and co-director Mfikili teamed up in 2016 after they both realised that children in their area resorted to criminal activities and drugs because they did not have extramural activities to keep them busy.
The organisation teaches children between the ages of four and 12 – with the dancers receiving rave reviews and some impressive gigs.
“My four-year-old daughter, Lithalethu, usually plays with the older kids in our street and sometimes I asked that they come and play in our yard,” Mfikili, 32, said.
“I would share stories with them, tell jokes, read the Bible and sometimes let them watch movies.
“After a while, more and more children started coming and I noticed that they had nothing to do after school.
“So one day I asked them if they would like us to start a group and to do something fun and recreational – they jumped at the idea.”
Mveni, 28, said: “Nomzamo and I share a love for children.
“I used to dance with a group of amaBhaca [an ethnic group mainly found in the small towns of the former Transkei homeland] women and due to my love for umxhentso [traditional dance] I thought it would be fruitful to groom the younger generation.
“And that’s when I met with Nomzamo who had also just formed her own group.”
The pair worked together in teaching the children about the Nguni culture as well as religion.
“We do this to get youngsters out of trouble and away from criminal habits,” Mveni said.
“We want to educate them so they can grow up with a positive attitude and a sense of cultural identity.
“In my group there are about eight dancers.
“[It is] called amaBongwa Zinyoni [loosely translated as praise birds] group, which later joined iZangoma Zomthonyama [traditional healers or traditional doctors] and collectively became Izilo Zakwantu cultural entertainment.
“In total the two groups have 15 performers,” she said.
Mfikili said they had been growing over time and had a variety of acts, including dance, poetry/praise and singing.
Since registering their organisation in early 2018, they had been getting more gigs, Mfikili said.
“Things have picked up financially and we were even able to buy school uniforms and stationery for the children,” she said.
The group performed for numerous events last year, including the Splash Festival and at the airport for international visitors to the Ironman competition.
The pair hope to grow the organisation in 2019 so they can pay for some of the children’s school fees and also buy tracksuits for the group.
“We hope this initiative will push these kids to move away from poverty, attain a good education and have good careers in future,” Mveni said.
“We also hope to grow the group to become a band by adding African instruments.”