Jabulani Chen Pereira

Founder | Former Executive Director

Jabu Pereira is the founder and former executive director of Iranti who exited the organisation in May 2022.  Jabu is a strategist, facilitator and a visionary leader who aims to instil hope that change is possible when we build strong movements and develop a wealth of knowledge that shapes our future. He has pioneered work to strengthen the Trans rights movement in Africa.

His greatest desire is to see the impact we make through our fearless actions. He thrives best when building collective communities. Jabu wants to see a world that is safe, free, joyful, and capable of helping anyone in need.

Born in Gqeberha, South Africa, Jabu has a Masters degree in the Arts from New York University and has pioneered approaches to documentation, storytelling and advocacy as a method of advancing social justice.

Ntuthuzo Ndzomo

Advocacy Officer

Ntuthuzo Ndzomo joins the Iranti as someone who has been part of the NGO sector for more than a decade. He has been involved in the fight for an equal and just society in several organisations. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Cape Town. He worked tirelessly in bridging the gap between the rich and the poor of this country. His activism work can traced to most of the provinces in South Africa. He’s supervised and spear headed both national and provincial campaigns in both the education and housing sector.

Nolwazi Tusini

Acting Co-Director | Communications and Media Manager

Nolwazi Tusini is a broadcast journalist, speaker,sought after social commentator and gender rights activist. She is also an award-winning News and Current Affairs Executive Producer and Programme Editor with a decade of experience crafting radio and TV shows that have covered a wide spectrum of not just the South African story, but some of the biggest global stories as well. She has led editorial teams at eNCA, 702, Power 98.7, and The Big Debate, working with the best talk radio and current affairs hosts that the country has to offer, such as Redi Tlhabi, Nikiwe Bikitsha, Eusebius McKaiser, John
Robbie, Xolani Gwala as well as CNN’s Richard Quest.

Nolwazi has also created and facilitated Race and Gender Literacy training workshops in
former model C schools across the country in partnership with social justice consultancy L&N advisory. This social justice work is coupled with the anti-Gender Based Violence (GBV) men’s workshop’s that she offers to ordinary South African men as part of her contribution to the fight to end GBV in South Africa.

Nolwazi is a 2021 fellow with the Atlantic Fellowship for Racial Equity (AFRE) run by Columbia University in New York and the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg.

Nolwazi is also a Ruth First Fellow, and was awarded this prestigious fellowship in 2016 by Wits University (Journalism School) for her research on the first generation of black students to enter multi-racial schools in South Africa.

Gugu Mandla

Documentations Officer

Gugu Mandla, a Passionate human rights defender, Photographer and videographer who was born and raised in Soweto, started working at Iranti as an photographer intern in 2013 and has since established a role in the organisation as A Media officer working on conceptualisation of LGBTI Storytelling of documentaries and multimedia within the human rights framework. She prides her self at the work she done on advocating for human rights violation through media documentation and movement building with LGBTI grassroot level organisation within the SA. She seeks for a better African LGBTI movement which will create impactful work that will change hearts and minds of society on the community level.

Jade Jacobs

Acting Co-Director | Knowledge and Research Manager

Jade joined Iranti in August 2019 as Advocacy Intern after completing their Masters at the University of the Witwatersrand, having researched South African Sign Language at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level.

 

Their one hope for the world is to “SMASH THE PATRIARCHY!”

 

“My Honours research essay was titled “The Fluid Identities of a South African Deaf Lesbian” and my Masters was titled “The Impact of Christian Churches’ Separatist Treatment of Difference on the Intersectional Identities of LGBTIQA+ and d/Deaf Communities in Johannesburg,” they say.

 

Coming from a family where identifying as queer is unacceptable, Jade’s passion for advocacy and activism is more than academic, but deeply personal, too. At Iranti, she will work to support the team’s many advocacy programmes in the region, from logistics and report write-ups to on-the-ground work.

 

“In 2017 Iranti held a workshop to assess the needs of the Deaf Trans Community, and that sparked my interest because the organization was engaging both communities that I had an interest in. I felt that I would love to be able to meet/work with some of them.”

“I would like to change the mindsets of queerphobic non-LGBTIQA people to create an attitude of understanding and willingness to accept people from our community. Many LGBTIQA people, especially Deaf LGBTIQA people, are afraid to come out because they are afraid of how it may impact their lives. People should be afforded the opportunity to share their life stories so that others can be encouraged in knowing that they are not alone, and can get support if they need it.”

 

In Jade’s personal life, they enjoys cooking (and eating!), Harry Potter, and binge-watching various TV shows.

Nomsa Manzini

Programmes Manager (Acting)

Nomsa Manzini has been working in the NGO field for more than a decade, managing and coordinating several projects at a national and provincial level. Previously she has worked for loveLife and Nal’ibali playing a leading role at a National and Provincial level. She recently worked with Nal’ibali as a Provincial Support coordinator in Mpumalanga working closely with the Provincial Department of Education and other civil society in promoting literacy development.

Zikhona Gqozo

Office and Finance Administrator

Zikhona Gqozo joined as a volunteer at Iranti in 2012 before becoming a permanent employee in 2014. She started as an administrator and over the years has provided support for the media team as an audio person. Zee regards working in the field with community based organisations as among her highlights. Her administration focus is on Office and Finance. Currently studying Bookkeeping at Damelin, her dream is to become a chartered accountant in the Finance Field. Zee hopes for – and works for – a world where people of all genders and sexualities are not living in fear of being themselves.

Zoey Black

Media and Comms Specialist

Zoey Black is a Digital Content Creator and Trans Rights Activist.

Zoey graduated from the University of Cape Town as a trained professional actress, and is highly skilled in live performance, production management, public speaking, and peer and group facilitation.

Zoey is a freelance filmmaker and content creator on YouTube. Her channel aims to address and explore social and lifestyle issues pertaining to the LGBTQIA+ community, specifically around the experiences of transgender and gender diverse people, using filmmaking as means to tell stories. The channel is the first of its kind on the platform, and acts as a resource in providing accessible information on trans specific issues. In addition, the channel focuses on filmmaking and photography.

She publicly advocates for trans rights and visibility, giving interviews to newspapers, magazines, radio stations and television shows, and broadens the scope of trans representation and narratives through her social media and online platforms.

She has a decade of experience in administrative, project and organisational management.

Zoey is also a published author and editor, contributing most notably to They Called Me Queer (2019), Trans Rural Narratives (2020) and Keeping the Promise of Dignity and Freedom for All (2020).

Crystal Hendricks

Intersex Rights Programme Officer

Crystal is a passionate Intersex human rights defender, born and raised in Cape Town.

Crystal is currently involved in various intersex-related activities in South Africa. She serves as an advisor on the Intersex Human Rights Fund Board, and is part of a group of Intersex activists – that in 2017, took Intersex South Africa (ISSA) out of its dormancy.

As an Intersex person, Crystal believes it is essential that the voices of intersex people be heard. She works tirelessly to ensure that Intersex people themselves are centred in conversations and decisions on issues that have a direct impact on their lived experiences.

Sylvester Kazibwe

Trans Rights Programme Officer

Sylvester is a trans man and trans activist from Uganda. He is the Deputy Executive Director of Tranz Network Uganda. He has a master’s degree in Human Rights and Democratization in Africa with the Centre of Human Rights at the University of Pretoria. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Development Studies from Makerere University. He is a member of the International Advisory Committee of the Power Pride Alliance. And he has an avid interest in LGBT advocacy, research and human rights. He has been a part of different research, widely knowledgeable and experienced in the areas of Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity and Leadership.