Meeting the wonderful Nompumelelo Melaphi

Meeting the wonderful Nompumelelo Melaphi

If there was one woman who could beat the super spy Sydney Bristow from the hit tv series ” Alias ” in multiple disguises, it would be my dear friend Nompumelelo Melaphi also known as Pumi, from South Africa.

Almost every day, she was in a totally different look and getup but carried the same activist attitude.

The cherry on the cake is that she is such a natural and spontaneous comedian that she can give even the legendary Russell Peters a run for his money.
Believe me, I even offered to be her manager if she was willing to pursue her career in the entertainment industry.

And that was just one side of her.

She is also an activist, Development Economist, and co-founder and director at Rethink Africa, a social enterprise focused on development based in South Africa.

She has worked with international NGOs such as the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation to conduct economic policy dialogues and two research reports.
She has also worked with Oxfam to conduct national activations to create awareness of the importance of a National Minimum Wage in South Africa through the #YourBossIsNotPayingYouEnough Campaign.

She has a passion for fighting climate change and food insecurity in underserved communities and has been able to achieve this with the support of the German embassy, Heinrich Boll Foundation, Barloworld Empowerment Foundation, and the Local Initiatives Fund South Africa- (LIFSA) an initiative of the Government of the Principality of Monaco.

She previously served as a member of the UN Women Civil Society Advisory Group under former UN Women Executive Director Dr Phumzile Mlambo -Ngcuka.

Our journey during the CSC2023 – The Duke of Edinburgh’s Commonwealth Study Conference – Canada 2023 was very similar to the one of Tom & Jerry !

Thank you for bearing with me and never failing to make me smile with your amazing sense of humor.
Your ability to ask hard-hitting questions triggered a great deal of introspection and was a big reality check for many.

I would like to describe my time with her in the words of the famous singer French Montanna, ” Unforgettable “!
Stay the same!
You are one in a million!
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