Embrace what Africa has to offer. Don’t apologise

Rendani Nemakhavhani loves her country. But she imagines it different. Energised by the diversity of cultures that make up South Africa, she is driven to create positive representations of blackness. Nemakhavhani’s views taking charge of self-perception as the first step towards effecting meaningful change.

A graphic designer and illustrator from Johannesburg, she has committed to sketching out the pattern of self-love that she invites her fellow Africans to emulate. Through a photographic series entitled ‘The Honey’, which she produced in collaboration with photographer Kgomotso Neto Tleane, she tells the story of a girl from the township who takes life in her stride. The project symbolises the lifestyle side of township culture that is often overlooked in the media.

Playing the role of Honey herself, Nemakhavhani is adamant that South Africans need to promote the celebration of black identity. “I believe that by creating powerful imagery we are embracing what we as Africans have to offer,” she says. “Africa doesn’t have to catch up. Africa can create its own.”