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‘Tintswalo’s’ story is the story of multitudes of South Africans reaping the dividends of democracy

Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri
By Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri
29 Feb 2024
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I have seen enough people declaring themselves to be a Tintswalo to have written this story. Journey with me here into a story of possibility and potential realised.

The story of Tintswalo, the fictional character created in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address, has caught the imagination of South Africans. There are the usual naysayers – the opposition, some in the media – who dispute the Tintswalo story of real-life change for millions since 1994, but I have seen enough people declaring themselves to be a Tintswalo to have written this story.

I imagined and created a composite journey of the life of one young woman that becomes the story of an everywoman. Journey with me here into a story of possibility and potential realised.

Born into violence


Tintswalo was born on 16 June 1994 in Shobashobane, near Port Shepstone amid the sprawling hills and valleys of KwaZulu-Natal. This vibrant and diverse region, celebrated for its remarkable blend of natural beauty, rich history and cultural diversity, has attracted tourists since its “discovery” by colonialists. The village on the hill had no running water, electricity or proper roads.

At just one year and six months old, Tintswalo’s birthplace was attacked by more than 600 heavily armed Inkatha impis at 8am on Christmas Day in 1995. The ANC and IFP had been engaged in a war which had intensified in the dying days of apartheid when the state used the old IFP to fight its proxy battles against the coming freedoms.

In the aftermath, 19 of Tintswalo’s neighbours were killed, and her father’s house was razed in what became known as the worst attack of the period: The Kwa-Shobashobane Massacre.

Life changes with an RDP house


Her father relocated the family from KwaShobabane to Dobsonville, settling with relatives in the sprawling Soweto township. In 1997, Tintswalo’s family moved into an RDP house designed by the ANC-led government to aid the poorest in the area. The ANC government has built millions of RDP homes and given 4.8 million “housing opportunities” to people since 1994. 

By 2019, the Department of Human Settlements had built 3,459,965 new homes, calculated from annual reports up to December 2018 and including subsequent years. The RDP house comes standard with electricity, an indoor toilet and running water. Don’t believe me? Africa Check, the continent’s largest fact-checking organisation, has green-ticked it.

Free education and a hot meal at school


At the age of seven, our Tintswalo began her education at Hector Peterson Primary School in Dobsonville in 2001, supported by her father, who secured a job as a rock driller at Anglo American Corporation.

She benefited from a hot, nutritious meal at school, a part of the pro-poor policy inspired by the then president Nelson Mandela, known as the National School Nutrition Programme. Today, this programme stands as a beacon of hope, serving nearly 10 million children with nutritious meals daily, or 3.6 billion meals annually. As a fundamental part of our fight against hunger and malnutrition, the programme extends its reach to every corner of our country.

When she began high school in 2008, Tintswalo moved back to KwaZulu-Natal. She attended the no-fee Dr John Langalibalele Dube High School in KwaMashu, north of Durban, staying with relatives. She matriculated in 2012, achieving a bachelor pass with distinctions in mathematics and English. This accomplishment resonated with the broader trend of rising success in South African education.

Over the past decade, National Senior Certificate (NSC) pass rates have surged from 60% in 2009 to more than 80% in recent years. Notably, the Class of 2023 achieved an impressive 82.9% pass, the second-highest in NSC history and a significant improvement on the previous year. Tintswalo’s individual success mirrored the positive trajectory of South Africa’s educational landscape.

By 2023, of the 6,898 schools writing the Grade 12 exams, 4,945 were no-fee schools. By 2024, about 80% of pupils in the country attended these schools, embodying the Freedom Charter’s principle of opening the doors of learning to all. The share of bachelor passes in no-fee schools improved from 55% in 2019 to 64% in 2022.

The Funza Lushaka programme has impacted South Africa’s landscape, with 52,099 teachers successfully completing their training and a remarkable 82% already making a difference in classrooms. This impressive statistic underscores the programme’s success in empowering educators and transforming the basic education landscape.

Tintswalo goes to college and into a great job


Tintswalo’s academic achievements fuelled her ambition for higher education. Choosing her top pick, tourism, she joined Lovedale Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) College in the Eastern Cape, one of 50 such institutions across South Africa.

Her journey wasn’t bootstrapped by her working-class family. The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), launched in 1996 by Mandela, provided support and eased the financial burden. Excelling in her studies, she earned a scholarship, which converted 60% of her debt to aid. It was a testament to her dedication and also to Africa’s largest state-funded post-schooling bursary scheme.

In 2021, R43-billion went to public universities, R11.3-billion to TVET colleges like Lovedale, and R2.1-billion to community education and training colleges. These allocations, coupled with initiatives like NSFAS, the National Research Foundation’s postgraduate bursary scheme, and the National Skills Fund, have fuelled the expansion of the post-school education and training (PSET) system.

Over the 10 years from 2011 to 2020, funding from NSFAS increased by R31.1-billion, with the most significant increase observed for public historically disadvantaged institutions, amounting to R26-billion. In 2023, NSFAS supported a staggering 1.3 million students, highlighting the programme’s growing impact.

We continue Tintswalo’s journey from her college into work. She returned to Johannesburg. In 2016, Tintswalo found employment at Sakhumzi Restaurant on vibrant Vilakazi Street in Soweto’s Orlando West.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Tintswalo and balloons take centre stage amid the weird, the curious and the contradictory debates

Three years later, she saved enough to take her parents on their first holiday to the Drakensberg. This trip was a significant milestone, allowing her family to enjoy the serene beauty and majesty of one of South Africa’s most scenic locations and staying at a notable establishment in the area, showcasing her gratitude and success.

Today, tourism is the new gold of South Africa. In 2023 there was a remarkable resurgence in tourism, with a 48.9% increase in international arrivals compared with 2022. More than 8.5 million people visited Mzansi in 2023, injecting billions into the economy while creating and sustaining more than a million jobs. 

Of those visitors, 6.4 million, or 75.6%, were from other African countries. The 2023 forecast for the tourism sector’s contribution to GDP is about 6.8%, or about R459-billion.

A promotion and a VW Polo


In 2022, Tintswalo was promoted as head of stakeholder relations for Sakhumzi’s parent company and also fulfilled the owner’s employment equity target for women’s advancement.

Today, cruising through streets like Winnie Mandela Drive in Johannesburg in her proudly South African-assembled VW Polo, she is a vision of democracy’s child.

I know there aren’t enough and that too many Tintswalos are still suffering without opportunities, but we also know, through the numbers, that this ANC government has made the life journey of many young Tintswalos different to that of their parents and their grandparents. DM

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