Actress, humanitarian and global star, Nomzamo Mbatha is rewriting the rules, and this time, she’s doing it strand by strand. As Creme of Nature’s first-ever South African ambassador, Nomzamo steps into a role that’s as much about representation as it is about real haircare.
It’s a chilly day in Johannesburg when I make my way to Bryanston to meet the multi- hyphenate powerhouse. It’s been a year since we caught up with her at the revamping of DL Dube in KwaMashu in collaboration with the Cotton On Foundation. Nomzamo’s passion for education can also be seen through her work with the Lighthouse Foundation and their recently launched literacy project. Whenever we catch up with the impactful global citizen, it’s never a casual meet up, and this time, Nomzamo is adding her voice to the hair conversation as the first-ever local ambassador for Creme of Nature.
Visibly elated, she shares that representing a brand who speaks to us as African women is an honour. “On the spectrum of our radiance, our heritage, our identity and our relationship with our hair, it’s powerful. I’d like to think that who I am represents different facets of womanhood, especially the African woman today.” You may have caught glimpses of Nomzamo on social media during her Shaka iLembe Season 2 activations at malls across Durban. The love she received from fans is testament to the love she continuously pours into her community. Nomzamo has always been vocal about giving back, and this can sometimes look like giving people hope for what’s possible.
At the heart of this “Rooted in Radiance” campaign is her passion for representation; in many ways, it’s a love letter to not only the young Black girl in KwaMashu, but also to her inner child. Retracing her steps to the streets that birthed her dreams, she says the moments and values from her childhood still shape the woman she is today — especially those from her mom and grandmother. “The women that I remember from KwaMashu would say ‘engathi singakufihla umhlaba ungakoni’, which translates to ‘if only we could shield you from the world, that it may not ruin you’... Of course, as a young girl you have very little context of the ways in which the world could ruin. As you grow, you realise and appreciate how much society can shape you into the kind of person who either lives up to their potential and exceeds it, or never fully realises it.”
Reflecting on some of the lessons from her youth, Nomzamo shares that her grandmother taught her the power to build, to start again, to value solitude and to be grounded and hone her humility. “The significance of KwaMashu was that, without the hardship I was surrounded by, I often wonder if I would have led with survival and [moving forward] not only as my motivator but also a form of kryptonite. The energy, the vibrancy, the ambition was truly alive. But the dead dreams, the struggles and the apathy was equally present... You always choose how the story ends.” Nomzamo is certainly a woman who owns her narrative — a woman who writes her own script and moves to the beat of her own drum. “If my presence allows another woman to give herself that same permission, then I’ve done my job by simply being myself,” she says.
Expanding on the ways in which her community, culture and heritage shaped her sense of purpose, and how she keeps those roots alive in her work, she says, “It has been my compass, my pillar that I lean on. It has also been the thing I am most proud of. Community is what I need to survive because it’s true that no man is an island. I’m inspired by my sense of community through friendships and also through engaging with women from near and far who I truly admire and learn from, even without having a personal relationship with them. Culture and heritage is what I want to keep most alive; it’s my sense of pride, an identifier that has helped me lean on where and who I come from.” On the topic of roots, the tagline of the campaign, “Your roots, your radiance” is a powerful sentiment. For Nomzamo, having roots, or a set of beliefs, provides a point of anchoring. “If you’re not rooted in anything, you have no point of anchor. My identity is rooted in the finite idea that I will always belong to myself. I do not wait for the world to tell me who I am — I tell the world who I am. A woman who moves with that is truly powerful and unstoppable.” This is exactly what makes her have an essence, je ne sais quois , an energy, a radiance!”
On being the brand ambassador for Creme of Nature, Nomzamo says, “It means being in conversation with women — not just selling to them. This brand sees our textured hair in all its beauty and complexity. Whether it’s the hair growing from our scalp or the hair or the hair we choose as part of our identity; wigs, protective styles, shrinkage moments — Creme of Nature has us covered.”
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