Open Letter to Dj Zinhle

Dear Ntombezinhle “Dj Zinhle” Jiyane

My name is Teboho Thuswa (22), I’m a Motivated Speaker and not a Motivational Speaker because challenges I came across at an early age drove me to speak and rebuild people’s lives with the gift that God gave me. I’m the CEO of the Fishmonger Motivations and also the founder of Excellent Magents, a grassroots movement that works to empower young men from 7 years to 35 years to end domestic violence, treat woman with respect and take responsibility of their own actions.

I was extremely inspired to write this letter to you because you belong to the cluster of woman who exterminated the myth of that woman were meant to be waitresses, retail workers or administrative assistants and always wait for men to bring food on the table. You are an effective and successful woman who has built a firm foundation with the stones that you were thrown with, and because I was raised by queen, I realised that good moral values are necessary and treating South African woman like queens will indeed illustrates that they are the pillars of strength. There is a French proverb that says men make roads, but it is the women who teach the children how to walk on them. I also decided to write to you and honour you for the beautiful work you are doing, we usually wait for people to die before we name things after them or say good things about them and I just want to end that virus because it is vital for one to know when they are doing good whilst they are still alive.

Dj Zinhle I grew up watching Jika Majika, an episode never passed my sister and I, most of the time I would say to myself but why this lady is a Dj though, I mean that’s a man’s job, so I thought at the time since our minds were programmed in that way. Because I was still fledgling at the time, I don’t believe I ever had an idea that a woman is the full circle and within her is the power to create, nurture and transform whatever she can think of and desires to do since she has the capacity to bear another human being for 9 months in her womb. I wish there were men who were not frightened by women’s elevation to teach us that when you educate a man by taking him to the mountains or giving him tips on being a man; you actually you educate a man but when you educate a woman by allowing her to access education; you educate a generation and planting the seeds that will carry the legacy of the nation forward.

Dj Zinhle I surely believe that your brother Zakhile must have seen the strength you possess as he taught you how mixing works, he saw something incredible that even made Mail and Guardian to recognize you as one of the young South Africans who are making difference in their careers with ‘300 young South Africans you must take to lunch’. My gut is never wrong and it tells me that it’s God who spoke to your brother saying “Zak, you’ve got to train her to be a Dj as she is helping you to set up at your events because she is going to take the country by storm as a phenomenal Dj, not Female Dj”. I am more than glad that he actually listened because when the Dj that was booked for a slot didn’t pitch, the beautiful girl from the Jiyane family with a marketing degree was well prepared to take over the reins and killed it. People must have been surprised like I was when I first saw you on Jika Majika while growing up but God was smiling and saying “that’s my girl!”. I think what makes people to get surprised is what you once said on NKZN Courier interview that we grew up on communities that were limiting us by not allowing to grow and explore.  Ntombezinhle you are an ordinary girl from small a town Dannhauser who has remarkably turned extraordinary. A lot of young people today are ashamed of where they come from because they have the belief that they will never be great or successful in their lives but people like you just highlight that when you put your head into what you want to achieve you can achieve it regardless of the circumstances or your surroundings since we are the dictators of what must happen with our lives as people.

Baby K’s mom, you have taken a very bold and tough decision to venture in the male dominated industry or boy’s club as you like to call it that many young females were not encouraged to enter at the time as it was labelled as a man’s industry and our minds were then thus programmed as we grew that A is for women and B is for men. It’s similar to the taxis, trucks and buses industries to name few where we sometimes get surprised when we see woman driving since they were also labelled as boy’s club as well. Whilst I was still at an intermediate school, I remember our principal introducing male nurses saying “These nurses paid us a visit today to inform us about TB awareness”, we all laughed as kids because we never knew that there were also male nurses and it’s not only females who are nurses. Such stereotypical issues are the ones that bound many people’s potentials because they affected us from an early age, now times have changed and people must also be the changes that they dream of. Mary Wollstonecraft on A Vindication of the Rights of Woman says “It is time to effect a revolution in female manners, time to restore to them their lost dignity and make them, as a part of the human species, labour by reforming themselves to reform the world. It is time to separate unchangeable morals from local manners.”

Zee, not all men (and especially the wisest) share the opinion that it is bad for women to be educated but it is very true that many foolish men have claimed this because it displeased them that women knew more than they did, I really appreciate and respect you Zinhle on making the decision to follow your passion of being a Dj that also has beautiful ROCKA Headphones with your name on among other things, it operates as evidence that young girls who are trapped in places that are filled with negative mind-sets can still have hope and faith that it is possible to achieve big dreams and them trying to emerge victorious should never be determined by their gender but their desire to be great. Your passion that you say works well when it’s managed like a business has transformed your mind, body and spirit and that passion has also aligned you with the wisdom of nature and the power of what is in your heart. Ntombezinhle you are in the list of amazing woman who didn’t turn lemon into lemonade as it is sweet but tequila instead, women who are driving change and who have contributed in proving that being a woman doesn’t mean that a man is a financial plan and that they can’t survive in the male dominated industries or run businesses because women have capability to do it for themselves like you did together with other amazing woman like Tlaleng Moabi (founder of Enzani Technologies), Amiene Van Der Merwe (MD of The Greencab, a Cape Town-based, green transportation company), Theresa Cupido (founder of ATN Group, road marking and civil engineering company), Leila Mayanja, (A rally driver from Uganda), Wilhemina Manaso (Mine Manager in Rehabilitation for BHP Billiton) and Rachel Tladi (founder of Uvuko Civil Maintenance and Construction). I just love how you firmly say it on Momentsbydjzinhle.com that gives woman a chance to tell their success stories, you beautifully say “I do not succeed because I am a woman, I succeed because I can, I succeed because it is my time”.

I noticed over the years that the most common way females give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any in this generation, some of them always cry for woman empowerment without realising that the power is actually in their minds and they can therefore empower their hearts by filling them with self-love that will release the drive to succeed. Young woman who still try to find their feet should take a lot from people like you and not give up on their dreams at all because the quantum physics states that something can actually come into existence only when it is observed and that means that something only exist because a mind first thought it into existence. Everything exists primarily as a quantum potentiality, when something is observed, Quanta which is Energy come together to form subatomic particles, and in turn atoms, then molecules until finally something manifests in the physical world as a localized space-time event that can be observed by the five physical senses, this clearly means that it’s not about gender at all in success. It saddens me a lot to see some young females selling their souls and bodies indirectly just for success nowadays, some are sleeping with men just to get jobs and to top positions because it has been made very difficult for them since some men are suffering from the beauty myth that makes them to abuse their power and take advantage females, if woman don’t act against such practices then it won’t end because a mind is such a powerful thing that can consume both negative and positive things. 

Women, like men, should try to do the impossible and when they fail, their failure should be a challenge to others. I am happy that you are doing something about this and breaking these immoral barriers that make woman’s images to be seen as gold diggers or sex machines that can be used in order for them to succeed because there is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women as Kofi Annan once alleged. I usually say to young women in seminars that they complain too much about their situation but they are not doing anything about it. My own quote is COMPLAIN AND COMPLY BEFORE YOU GET COMPLICATED, I mean no one is going to do it for them, even that Tenderboy with a big belly is just showing off, in fact they should ask him that how did he managed to drive that GTI they love instead of screaming at it and enjoy sitting on the left seat. Maya Angelou once said “I love to see a young girl go out and take the world by lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass”. I wish she was still alive to witness one of them by the name of Zinhle who is doing exactly what she wanted to see by also making people dance in Malaysia, Scotland, Miami, Washington DC, Indiana and London just to name few on amazing things she does.

On CMOE, Stephanie S. Mead says "Strategic leaders must not get consumed by the operational and tactical side of their work. They have a duty to find time to shape the future." Apart your successful DJing career that saw the making of Feminine Touch with one of my favourite songs like Church Lady and Pepe (especially it's music video with David Kau and Chris Mapane lol), you are doing amazing things in shaping our country on feminism by inspiring woman to go out there and break the barricades because that’s how they can only be liberated from their own fear, and their presence will therefore automatically liberate others. For woman to win the battle of woman empowerment, I think they must first have faith on one another because some don’t want to be led by other woman since they think that they might be weaker like them if they are not stating woman issues. There will always be issues in life but they shouldn’t be based on gender but leadership status quo rather for better improvement. Back in my high school days, a lot of girls used to say they like hanging out with boys because girls have drama of competing and I think that some are still stuck with that idea even where it’s not necessary, that idea of hating on another’s ability is killing their growth like Oscar Pistorious’s 9mm pistol. Women are so strong and knowledgeable. Instead of competing with each other, they need to complete each other, they must take away that wall of competition, don't wait for any man and say, 'Hi, Zi right I-girls?, let's just all get together and help each other to be fantastic, let's pull ourselves together instead of claiming to run the world when we know exactly that are not united.' Zinhle, the thing is, corrupt men have realised that women are very jealous of each other and are therefore using them to their advantage and if woman don't see this then they will forever cry because they will be blind to see that they have control in their hands but they throwing it away just because of wanting to compete or proving a point. We need to become good citizens in our societies instead of competing, you and other women have started, others can join in because it's positive and healthy. I mean what are we competing for?  To drive more cars, eat at fancy restaurants, wear expensive clothes, to be in the limelight, stay in big mansions? That is destroying the world very badly because it creates fake people who are jealous to see other people succeeding or being happy.

Eleanor Roosevelt beautifully says “Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, and small minds discuss people”, you and your best friend Nomndeni Mdakhi discussed ideas and FUSE Academy and S.H.E were born, the first female Dj school started by women who didn’t discuss people while playing cards or hated on one another’s abilities but women who went all out to say it is up to us to make a difference and create opportunities, both of you could have easily just focused on yourselves but you ensured that you create platforms that will erase fear of failure and self-doubt because one can move totally away from reality when they believe that there is a legitimate reason to suffer. Bill Plotkin on Nature and the Human Soul says “Remember that self-doubt is as self-centered as self-inflation. Your obligation is to reach as deeply as you can and offer your unique and authentic gifts as bravely and beautifully as you're able.” Most young women again are not strong in this time and age only because they are not aware that they must arm themselves with their weaknesses; along the journey of FUSE academy, things weren’t working well for you to a point where you thought of shutting down the doors and telling students you are closing down the school but you and Nomndeni went back to the drawing board instead of quitting on your vision and dream even though it was really hard, thanks for not quitting on what you wanted to achieve because doors for young female Djs like Miss Pru were now built and gave them a chance. Some people quit before they even try, they think it’s easy and they are also not aware that one is in the wrong lane when things are easily coming their way because building a sustainable business requires us not to be afraid of storms as we learn to sail our ship like you did with Nomdeni. Proverbs 31:20-21 says “She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet” What makes me more than happy about you Zee is that you are a woman of prayer, and such women like you who visit God are like a tea bags, you just never know how strong they are until you put them in hot water.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?” Who are you not to be Ntombezinhle Jiyane?  You showed that who are you not to be if there are people who have huge brands like Jordans, Louie Vuitton, Austin Martin, Ford, or Adidas all over the world for you not to have ERABYDJZINHLE? The massive brand that is well established and competing with other huge brands? An immense standing business that was founded by a young South African woman?  Dj Zinhle, this serves as encouragement to many of us that you’ve got to push the frontiers because we are powerful beyond measures as Mama Maya Angelou said and we shouldn’t limit ourselves by enabling people’s opinions to become our realities. The empowered woman like you are powerful beyond measure and beautiful beyond description and I surely believe that you were told several times that ERABYDJZINHLE will be impossible or it won’t prosper at all even. Some people are never aware that venturing in any business is not easy at all like we see the existing ones with tall buildings as we still have to have to crawl first before we can walk, I know with my motivational speaking business, sometimes there are no bookings at all while some people don’t want to pay you your worth but because I have seen humble and loving people like you, Oskido, Black Coffee and Khanyi Dlhomo making it drives me not to give up at all and believe that no one ever died from sleeping in an unmade bed.

On one of your blogs you said “I have grown to understand the power of the female brand. Our ability to be strong and vulnerable at the same time, raise men who can affect world change, stand behind champions and also be able to take on champion roles. God took his time when he created a woman and the world knows our power”. I was like where does she come from? But I quickly answered myself and said she is from the reading biosphere of intellects. Our lives are the reflections of our thoughts and there is a big difference between people who read gossip magazines and people who read empowerment or life changing books and through conversations that people have or things they say is when you usually catch the fishes to see if they are Dolphins or Guppies (a fish with a very low IQ). I found out that you are a Dolphin Zinhle, and when you were asked about resources that keep you inspired, you remarkably said “Perseverance is a very important part of success and no book taught me that better Mr Madiba’s book, “Long Walk To Freedom’, his story encourages me to keep going. I also love a book by Robin Sharma called 'A Leader Who Had No Title' everyone needs to read this book, it amazing”. Kairo’s mom your intelligence level is vital and what is mostly pleasing is that it is not utilized in the bad habit form of laziness like those who just read and then think English is a sign of intelligence while they use education to look down on others instead of decreasing ignorance. I know your favourite quote from A leader who had no title is “Leaders are those individuals who do the things that failures aren’t willing to do – even thought they might not like doing them either. They have the discipline to do what they know to be important” and because I also read the book, mine is right from chapter one where Robin says “EACH ONE OF US IS BORN INTO GENIUS. Sadly, most of us die amid mediocrity” It’s a dazzling book and I also encourage you to read A Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma himself.

Ms Jiyane from how you handle your brand stunningly, one can really calculate that Zee is aware that her mind is a palace and she must ensure that there is gold and platinum in it. When you pour water into the glass, the water takes shape of the glass, when you pour it in the bucket it takes the shape of that bucket but when you pour it on the floor it disappears, in this case you are water and the glass is therefore people like Oskido, Nomdeni and your family whom you have surrounded yourself with since one’s environment is the one that also determines where they will go with their lives. Proverbs 31:26 says “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue”. Dj Zinhle from how you humbly carrying yourself with love and forever smiling, and when one looks at those that are surrounding you, I can then say it is definitely a perfect reason I found as to why you never fell and still standing with relevance in this tough boy’s club or entertainment industry that saw many others on the bottom of the chain and out of touch, this also sends a very robust message to everyone out there to say you must align yourself with people whom you share the same vision with if you want to succeed and success is not measured by gender but one’s eagerness to win. I am drafting my book now titled NOBODY IS BIGGER THAN YOUR BUSINESS which you are going to receive a signed copy of and during rough times I just surround myself with positive people who will not judge but push me to do more.

Shannon L. Alder once said “Your dignity can be mocked, abused, compromised, toyed with, lowered and even badmouthed, but it can never be taken from you. You have the power today to reset your boundaries, restore your image, start fresh with renewed values and rebuild what has happened to you in the past.” Baby K’s mom there are a lot of negative stuff that were said about you but you are still standing and never allowed anyone to pour your eyes with pepper spray to still be able to have your vision of an eagle that can see a prey from 3km away, and for one to do that is with the ability to associate themselves with people who will be there for who they are and by reading books for mental strength as well. I have realised from your ability to still come out smiling after being written off that as people we must concentrate more on our achievements than our failures and learn to take the failures as opportunities to rectify our errors while we keep our heads above the sea levels because the moment you become friends with your inner self, you realize that the failures or hindrances that you met earlier were caused more by your disconnected status with your inner being.

I’ve also got to realise also in life Zinhle that it really doesn't matter that some people are laughing behind your back and are glad to see you fall, fail, and smiling in your face pretending to be your friends. You are not your mistakes, your failures, or your disappointments, you are just you. You must be aware that some things you are not prepared for will happen and at that point you will just want to quit on life and feel like you don't belong to this world, I was always laughed at when my results were going down, when I was no longer at top 10 in school, I was a JOKE, and trust me Zinhle it was hurting. As people, we must regroup, rediscover and rejuvenate ourselves and go back to the drawing board to come up with a different strategy, plan A should be not going to plan B if we want to succeed I believe. I always don't buy the YOLO story that You Only Live Once because you live everyday but You Only Die Once, so it should be YODO instead! Every day we have the opportunity to re-launch, revive, and to reinvigorate our dreams. We are more powerful than we realize and should just go in deeper, challenge ourselves, hold the vision and never look back because forward is where we are heading as we break this gender stereotype on success.

Ms Jiyane I love your vision, I was very thrilled when I read your success definition that says “Success is about setting goals and reaching those goals, they could be personal or professional goals. Success is personal and should never be driven by other people’s measures of success but your own and that is how the definition of success has changed for the over the year, just understanding that my definition and measures of success won’t be the same as that of the next person.” This definition is very powerful because some of us turn to slack a bit and be beaten by fear. Across your journey as an ambitious young woman, I also managed to realise that FEAR will keep me focusing in the past or worrying me about the future, it will make me a false prophet because I will now be thinking for people before I attempt to even take action and that then will become the thing that stops me from going forward. I used to think for people several times and it never worked, I now know that I mustn’t judge people because of other people's failures or rejections, I must give myself and them a chance and see what will come out. I have approached many Radio Stations and only accepted by one! But because you keep breaking the boundaries across the globe with amazing projects as an intelligent young woman, it says to me “Teboho, you will get rejected in your life, many times but that shouldn't be a cement, water, sand and bricks to build FEAR in your thoughts and demoralize your confidence since FEAR is very capable of making you quit!”

Women come across as vulnerable and this result in them having to constantly prove themselves and their abilities in everything they decide to partake in especially in boys club. Your project of Pink Revolution is a marvellous initiative because it gives woman clear details of how to stand strong since a lot of them aspire to own and take charge such as individuals like you but some of them merely fail because of now wanting to be manly sometimes. It is very difficult for women to climb to the top positions particularly because they are woman and some will be given petty deals that may not be even partaking in driving the company’s decisions or be paid lesser than males. This is still a very major issue in our societies and I’m glad you took charge of it; woman must be very strong and keep trying harder because in some cases they will be offered dodgy deals like sleeping their way up to a position and these are one of the things that continue to make women look incompetent. Woman must make it stop because it will never stop with only that deal; they must know that they will be doing it more than once and to more than one person.

Your story of learning and being established as a Dj comes in handy to say to other women that they shouldn’t use bribery either to get their position because their characters will fade away as well. Dj Zinhle, your strategy of being in this male dominated industry worked very well because you took time to research about it with the help of your brother Zakhile and learned, I think that’s what we must do most as people, we must research and know exactly what we are getting ourselves into because there is nothing that beats knowledge.  We must also find time to do the most boring thing of networking and also create time to find mentors that will understand our vision and goals. Thank you for being an inspiration, and just so you know Ms Jiyane, you don’t only inspire woman if you thought so on MomentsByDjZinhle.com because I also visit to draw massive inspiration.

Warm Regards

Teboho Thuswa, The Motivated Speaker, The Kasi Preacher