Nomthandazo Mgcina: A young voice for education, sisterhood and youth empowerment
The Mt Kenya Times 
Nomthandazo Mgcina
At 21, the South African educator, author and founder is quietly building platforms that change how young people see themselves
By Anila Bukhari
Nomthandazo Mgcina is 21 years old, studying towards a Bachelor of Education degree specialising in Foundation Phase teaching, and already running two youth platforms, authoring a children’s book and competing as a pageant finalist. None of that, however, captures what drives her. What drives her is simpler and more personal: a belief that every child deserves someone in their corner.
That belief was shaped early. Mgcina’s own childhood experiences planted the conviction that a child’s formative years can determine the person they eventually become. Teaching, for her, is not a career path so much as a calling — a chance to be the kind of educator who meets every child where they are, nurtures their curiosity and reminds them that their circumstances need not define their ceiling.
Her academic specialisation in Foundation Phase education is deliberately chosen. These are the earliest years of formal schooling, when confidence is built or quietly eroded, when a child first learns whether learning feels safe or frightening. Mgcina is preparing herself to work in that space with intentionality — not only to teach children academically, but to help them develop a sense of who they are and what they are capable of becoming.
Her work beyond the lecture hall is equally purposeful. She is the founder of A Sister Helps A Sister, a platform built around sisterhood, faith and mutual encouragement. The initiative creates a space where girls and young women can be honest about their journeys, support one another through different seasons of life and understand, practically, why lifting others does not diminish your own ascent. For Mgcina, the platform reflects a core conviction: personal growth is more powerful when the journey is not walked alone.
She is also the founder of The Becoming Series, a youth-focused platform dedicated to confidence, purpose and personal development. The name itself carries her philosophy — becoming is a process, not an event. Through conversations, summits and community initiatives, the platform encourages young people to explore their potential, find their voice and take deliberate steps toward their goals rather than waiting for the right moment to arrive.
The Becoming Series produced one of Mgcina’s most significant milestones to date. On September 12, she hosted the Beyond You Youth Empowerment and Personal Development Summit under the theme “Step Beyond Your Limits.” The summit brought young people together for structured conversations spanning education, leadership, career development, mental wellness and financial literacy. It was not designed to deliver inspiration and send people home. It was designed to equip — to give young people practical frameworks for growth alongside the encouragement to pursue it.
Literacy sits close to the heart of her work. Through Read to Rise, an initiative under The Becoming Series, Mgcina encourages children to develop a genuine love for reading. She understands what access to books and stories can do — how it expands imagination, builds vocabulary and opens doors that might otherwise appear closed.
That passion for children’s stories led her to write one of her own. Her children’s book, The Little Girl Who Believed, draws on her personal journey and carries a message she returns to consistently: children deserve to see themselves as capable, valuable and full of possibility. Storytelling, she believes, is one of the most powerful ways to plant that message early.
Mgcina is also a Miss Gauteng Exclusive 2026 finalist. She approaches the pageant not as a competition for its own sake, but as a platform — another space from which to advocate for youth empowerment, education and mentorship, and to connect with people who might be encouraged by her example.
Across all of it — the degree, the platforms, the book, the advocacy, the pageant — a single thread runs through her work. She wants young people to believe in themselves before the world fully confirms that they should. She wants children to encounter adults who see their potential before it is fully visible. And she wants young women to know they are not competing against one another.
Her leadership is grounded in faith, kindness and the understanding that meaningful impact rarely begins with a large platform or significant resources. It begins, she believes, with one person choosing to believe in another. One child discovering the joy of a book. One young woman realising she is not navigating her journey alone.
At 21, Nomthandazo Mgcina is already demonstrating what it looks like to build with purpose. Her story is still unfolding — but the direction is clear, and she is moving in it with conviction.
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