Manned Up Conversations

Send us Fan Mail To continue our series on Men's Month, we travel to Midvaal to meet with the Executive Mayor Peter Teixeira  to have an informal but insightful chat about him fathering 3 amazing children and married to his beautiful wife whom he married at a young age. We discuss his upbringing and venture into how the pressure of his career affect his mental health and how he can utilize hi...

Send us Fan Mail To kick off Men's Health Month we took The Urology Hospital in Hatfield, Pretoria to talk to Dr K Ijane about some of the issues surrounding how men are dealing with the issues of prostate cancer and the process involved when seeking help. He explains the relationship between GPs and other doctors who are part their network in providing help and referrals to professionals who...

Send us Fan Mail "44%  of all boys in South Africa has suffered some form of sexual abuse by age 18." We talk to Martin Pelders to discuss his work in empowering survivors of sexual abuse. We unpack the foundations of his company MatrixMen and tackle myths surrounding sexual abuse victims. He shares insights on how abuse affects the victims outlook on life, how they deal with the trauma...

Send us Fan Mail The voice(s) in our head often work against us and limit our ability to live in our truth and reach our fullest potential. We hide, deny and suppress certain parts of ourselves in order to appear perfect and well put together to the world around us. My guest Mervin Canham pulled up to share how The Mankind Project South Africa helped him on his journey in healing and overcoming pe...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode I talk to Buntu Magqibelo and we highlight Doda Ndoda - I Am My Brother's Keeper's   work which started out as men's departments within the church and eventually  became a secular organization to embrace and work with men from different walks of life . We talk about men losing interest in the church, tradition including symbolic meaning of circumcisi...

Send us Fan Mail " Physical separation should not stop you from meaningfully taking part in your little one’s life.  It’s much easier for mothers to build a bond with their child during pregnancy and in the early days, especially if they are breastfeeding. With dads, you have to form this bond more intentionally in other ways." In one of our previous episodes we spoke about Why Do Father...

Send us Fan Mail Drama therapy is a form of psychotherapy . It involves using drama and theatre techniques to help people resolve conflicts and problems. It may also allow individuals to develop self-awareness, express emotions, and improve relationships. To help unpack this topic I'm joined by Wits University Drama Therapist, Sibusiso Vonder Fihlani who started out in the theatre world and t...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode we discuss the culture of addiction. To help me unpack this topic i'm joined by legendary Hip Hop Producer, Ootz The Afronaut who was once considered and nominated Hip Hop producer of the year by South African publication Hype magazine.  Ootz share his battles with alcohol and drug addiction highlighting some key moments that led to the realization that he&apo...

Send us Fan Mail In recent years organizations have been at the forefront of addressing fathers' absence and involvement in South African families. One of the organizations leading this cause is Heartlines through their vital and wide-reaching initiative #FathersMatterZA.   Lereko Mfono joins me  to discuss the impact of their work with men in various communities around the country.  We discu...

Send us Fan Mail The world of work has changed and its becoming increasingly important for us to adopt strategies to help us develop skills that will help us advance in our career. On today's episode we discuss careers, side hustles and strategies to consider as you prepare the path to conquer your chosen career or business. We also unpack how gender transformation affects men's career c...

Send us Fan Mail Bullying has been part of our lives from a young age, whether we were the one being bullied or witnessed someone else being bullied, and we simply wrote it off as boys being boys or kids playful nature. But rarely do we stop and think about how the person being bullied is affected, My guest Shakes Dlutu runs impactful workshops on spreading awareness about bullying in the educatio...

Send us Fan Mail What is it about those thoughts that never seem to leave us? Good or bad, we all have hundreds if not thousands of thoughts running through our minds at the same time, so we need to be mindful of the thoughts that we entertain. My guests KC Dinoke considers himself a student of the mind and believes that if we can sustain thought long enough our mind has the power to turn the invi...

Send us Fan Mail  Adversity has a strange way of awakening our resilient spirit, giving us the ability to turn some of worst tragedies into triumphs, my guests Arabile Gumede joins me to talk about his journey into financial journalism, the challenges of growing up in a single parent home  and we highlight the importance of surrounding yourself with the right environment and people to help you ele...

Send us Fan Mail Interracial couples are not as uncommon as they were before South Africa became the so called "rainbow nation" and even when we see these couples we chuckle and wonder about the complexities their relationship might deal with on a daily basis. From culture shock, lobola negotiations and just a general difference in the way of life between black and white people are sure...

Send us Fan Mail Do you think South African men are experiencing an identity crisis? Are black men in South Africa experiencing an identity crisis? Considering our long history with apartheid and the developments post this shameful period, black people and black men in particular have risen to positions of power. But even at the height of their success you find the same men involved in crimes agai...

Send us Fan Mail Ever wonder why there's so much secrecy around mental health in the black community? Well, in this episode we unpack and discuss some of the stigma around mental health and male suicide by highlighting some of the common causes and preventative measures we can take in helping ourselves or our loved ones who might be struggling with one or more of these mental health issues. T...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode I connect with media elder Dan Moyane to discuss the importance of telling your story in his memoir “ I Don't Want To Die Unknown ”. We unpack why our stories need to be documented instead of being only told through oral tradition. Dan Moyane shares lessons that were taught by his late parents, we discuss the influence his father had on his life growing up in...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode I connect with media elder Dan Moyane to discuss the importance of telling your story in his memior “ I Don't Want To Die Unknown ”. We unpack why our stories need to be documented instead of being only told through oral tradition. Dan Moyane shares lessons that were taught by his late parents, we discuss the influence his father had on his life growing up in...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode I connect with Neo Patrick Mabiletsa about his journey as an author, we unpack his book “ Chronicles of Fatherless Son ”, how he dealt with the loss of his wife after the birth of his first daughter & the challenges of being a single father. We also highlight his passion for coaching and helping others deal with their grief and how he has gone from an author to...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we connect unpack the hilarious but inspiring book Magenge, We Need To Talk authored by Melusi Tshabalala. We explore his open and honest approach in his writing style and why he felt the need to reach out to men by sharing some of his struggles and observations throughout his life. Melusi also shares some of his upcoming projects outside of Magenge and how he plan...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I speak to Julia Kerr Henkel about Dealing With Shame. Shame is one of the biggest contributors to suicide, depression, and sometimes abuse. We aim to explore how we can use empathy, connect with others, and learn to express ourselves emotionally to defeat this silent killer that thrives on not being spoken about or discussed. Julia brings her expertise and insigh...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we connect in conversation with Benedict  Phiri to get his insights on life, philosophy, and enjoying life as a driven man with great vision.  We start off by unpacking Ben's journey into the law profession including some hilarious but honest and humble stories from his childhood. We unpack the events that led to another failed marriage while dealing with bei...

Send us Fan Mail On Part:2, We discuss the need for men to form a relationship with God. We unpack the need to forgive our fathers and mend our relationships to help us understand their role in our life. We discuss the unfair expectations we have for our parents and how the trauma of not dealing with the lack of connection with our fathers can cause.  We share some personal stories about the negat...

Send us Fan Mail On Part:1 of Unmasking the Alpha male, we take a deep dive and look into the reasons why men are defining themselves by terms and titles they don't truly understand. We explore the origins and discuss some of the traits of being an Alpha male. We highlight some of the toxic also discuss the toxic and hidden world of the bro-code and how it perpetuates stereotypes about male g...

Send us Fan Mail On our final episode of the Six Pack Of Champion Virtues series we take this opportunity to honor and highlight Craig Wilkinson as a leader and advocate for change and role model in, Leading For Change. Craig shares his early childhood memories growing up in Johannesburg, travelling around various countries with his family and schooling in Botswana. We unpack some unfortunate inci...