A city’s transformation takes vision, leadership, skills and the requisite experience to progress. It is for this reason that the Mandela Bay Development Agency, an entity of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, is pleased to announce the appointment of Zinhle Thwala-Zulu to the key position of Executive Manager: Operations. The role oversees all MBDA project planning, preparation, implementation and total precinct management, also referred to as urban area management.
Thwala-Zulu stepped into the role held, until recently, by Debbie Hendricks, who served in this key position from 2019.
Thwala-Zulu is now at the helm of the portfolio that drives the long-term planning and implementation of catalytic projects within Nelson Mandela Bay.
“Zinhle is taking on a critical role within the agency,” says MBDA CEO, Anele Qaba. “She will lead the responsibility of aligning urban renewal projects with the agency’s strategic objectives and ensure that every initiative contributes to the city’s broader development goals within the MBDA’s mandate.”
Thwala-Zulu has held several senior public and private sector roles over the course of her career, including serving as General Manager: Planning & Sustainable Development at the Mtubatuba Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, and as Senior Town Planner within the Western Cape’s Knysna Municipality. She has led major urban projects and overseen the implementation of policy, land use applications and infrastructure planning. She holds a BTech in Town & Regional Planning, a Post-graduate Diploma in Local Economic Development, and is currently working towards a Master’s degree in Town and Regional Planning at the University of Pretoria.
Qaba is confident in the new appointment: “I am excited with Zinhle’s depth and breadth of experience to provide leadership in driving the MBDA’s mission, to contribute to the inclusive and equitable development of Nelson Mandela Bay as a world-class city to live in, and a destination of choice. The MBDA’s core mandate is to achieve social, spatial and economic transformation in Nelson Mandela Bay.”
“She brings to the position her expertise in municipal governance, infrastructure development and spatial planning, and is very well-placed to drive long-term impact and bring a fresh momentum to both current and future initiatives of the MBDA.”
As Executive Manager: Operations, Thwala-Zulu will work closely with all stakeholders and partners to build and promote inclusive economic growth in Nelson Mandela Bay. “I am excited to have the opportunity to guide and shape the MBDA’s transformative initiatives,” she says. “I look forward to supporting and leading initiatives that bring long-term positive results and make a meaningful impact in Nelson Mandela Bay. We have all the plans, now we need to deliver.”
Held hostage by grief: What Straw gets right (and wrong):
?Tyler Perry’s latest film Straw, which premiered on 6 June on Netflix, has many viewers divided. Some who have followed Perry’s work find the black woman’s struggle angle a bit tired, while some find the film compelling, albeit painful to watch.
As with the latter view, I had my heartstrings tugged and twisted on a random Monday morning. It is definitely not a great way to start a week but, fortunately, Mondays are my days off when I am free to be “human” and “feel”. Love or hate Perry, the illustrious writer-director knows how to tell a persuasive story about those on the margins of society.
A roller-coaster ride of sweat, tears and screams, Straw follows hard-working single mother Janiyah Wiltkinson, played by Taraji P. Henson, on a devastatingly bad day that leads her into a shocking act of desperation. As a film about a person’s breaking point leading to a hostage situation, Straw borrows heavily from Denzel Washington’s John Q and John Boyega’s Breaking.
On the local front, I was also reminded of Kagiso Modupe’s Losing Lerato 2, the sequel to the 2019 drama film Losing Lerato.
One of the similarities between these films is that they are about how despair can lead a person, particularly someone from a disadvantaged community, to hold people hostage in a bid to get their pressing needs met.
Apart from the female lead, the differences with Straw are the troubling themes of struggling single mothers and the mental health issues related to the loss of a child.
Single mothers and grief
Regardless of where you are in the world, the film could be highly triggering to those who have experienced the struggles of single mothers. Particularly for households in low-income areas, these include financial strain, fatigue, stigma and lack of access to essential resources.
In South Africa, for instance, only one-third of children (33.8%) lived with both parents according to a 2022 General Household Survey by Statistics South Africa. Of them, 43.4% lived only with their mothers, while a much smaller percentage (4%) lived only with their fathers, according to the survey.
Added to these challenges for single mothers are the mental health issues related to losing a child. Sure, Perry could do better in stretching his filmmaking catalogue beyond sad black female stories. But the invisible wars women fight due to the often ignored mental health issues that come with grieving over a child’s death were prominent in Straw.
In South Africa, the infant mortality rate for 2021 was estimated at 24.1 per 1 000 live births, according to StatsSA. Some contributing factors include HIV/Aids, inequality, poor maternal nutrition and inadequate access to quality healthcare.
Due to capitalism, and life’s daily demands, many women are simply expected to carry on like nothing happened. As such, the effect on a single mother’s mental health is often unnoticed by family members, employers and even the grieving mother herself.
Misunderstood and support networks
But who will believe a woman, let alone a single mother, if she opens up about her mental health struggles in an antagonistic patriarchal society? In her book Invisible Women, British author Caroline Criado-Perez argues that instead of believing women when they say they’re in pain, society tends to label them as mad, irrational or over emotional.
Male theorists such as Stephen Hawking and Sigmund Freud, the author further argues, supported this skewed view of the women in their earlier work. As society evolves, we would expect thoughts on women and their mental health to change but, sadly, that’s not the case. In the film, Janiyah is extremely frustrated when people, including some male characters, do not understand her situation.
We witness narcissistic and shallow men disregard Janiyah’s emotions without compassion or understanding. Her employer Richard (Glynn Turman), for instance, doesn’t miss a beat in throwing accusations and insults at her. FBI Agent Bryce (Derek Phillips) and Officer Oliver’s (Tilky Jones) dismissal of Janiyah’s reasons, highlight the white supremacy that often tramples women’s needs.
The absence of the father also rang loudly throughout the film. Where was the child’s dad to support Janiyah emotionally and financially?
The solidarity and understanding among the female characters was commendable but expected as Perry’s signature. Along with the group of supporters outside the bank — Kay Raymond, the detective (Teyana Taylor), and the bank manager Nicole (Sherri Shepherd) — were empathy and understanding personified.
Though many studies have attempted to explain how people react to grief, it must be said that different people experience grief differently, particularly when it comes to the loss of a child. Dissociation, depression and anxiety could be some of the effects.
Due to economic inequalities, social stigma and lack of knowledge of mental wellness some, unfortunately, get stuck in an unending loop. Interventions such as positive community support, therapy and even medication are what most healthcare practitioners would typically advise. At the end, however, it is up to the person, man or woman, to ask for help when drowning in the mind’s abyss.
The pain from mental health struggles is not a gender issue but a human topic. The film reminds us to be more kind to one another, to check up on that family member, colleague or neighbour who has gone through an overwhelming traumatic experience. Straw has to be Perry’s most heartbreaking film on the painful struggles of black women I’ve seen since For Coloured Girls in 2010. Overall, the contemporary themes and Henson’s award-worthy performance in tapping into a wide spectrum of emotions saves the film from mediocrity.
Digital ID is not digital colonialism – it’s an investment in Africa’s future:
Africa is on the cusp of a digital transformation – and digital ID is the key to unlocking it. By the end of 2025, there will be 9.5 billion people on Earth, and 25% of these people will be African. By 2100, that number will rise to 4 in 10. Africa is also the youngest continent, with a median age of 18 and 40% of its population under 14. Empowering this generation means more than just smartphones and internet access – it means building the foundational infrastructure to enable people to participate in society, protect their rights, and access opportunities. Digital ID is one of those structures.
With over 500 million Africans still lacking a formal ID, closing this gap represents one of the greatest opportunities for inclusive growth on the continent. There’s already clear evidence of how safe, inclusive digital ID is driving development and improving citizens’ lives across Africa, expanding access to healthcare, education, and financial services. This especially impacts those who have historically been excluded – from women without documentation to rural populations without access to banks.
Several African countries have opted to transition their national ID systems into digital ID systems, providing more streamlined access to basic services, including education, healthcare, and social support payments. Ethiopia is adopting digital ID using MOSIP’s open source ID platform, which not only guarantees national sovereignty but also aims to enrol at least 100 million Ethiopians.
At Co-Develop, we work with governments and civil society to ensure digital ID systems are built in a way that earns trust. That includes supporting tools like MOSIP and contributing to frameworks like the UNDP Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Safeguards, which help countries design infrastructure that protects rights from the start. This means embedding transparency, security, and accountability into every layer of system design—and involving the public in the process.
Yet, there are still concerns and misconceptions surrounding digital ID, from fears of surveillance to claims of Western-driven agendas. These fears are not a reason to reject this technology. They signal a need for deeper engagement, so that we can overcome the barriers preventing Africans from enjoying the benefits of digital ID. What Africa needs now is an informed discourse about how digital ID can empower citizens, protect human rights, and drive inclusive growth, underpinned by robust safeguards.
Some have argued that digital ID is a modern form of digital colonialism, shaped by external agendas and rooted in data extraction. But that misrepresents both the intent and the architecture of many of the systems being adopted across Africa. Open-source, safe-by-design platforms like MOSIP are designed with privacy, data minimization, and citizen control at their core. These platforms empower countries to adopt digital ID systems tailored to national laws and values and to store data under their control, forgoing dependence on private vendors or foreign entities.
What is more, it’s increasingly clear that African governments, technologists, and civil society are at the forefront of efforts to improve governance around digital ID systems, not passive actors. Initiatives like ID4Africa demonstrate that countries across the continent are shaping digital ID systems on their own terms, grounded in local priorities, values, and debate. At the ID4Africa 2025 AGM, both state and civil society actors from countries across Africa converged in Addis Ababa to have a constructive discourse on digital ID and how we can prioritize its use while accelerating impact. Representatives from over 48 African countries were present at this year’s event, showcasing the importance of this conversation to both Governments and the enabling ecosystem.
Ultimately, every new technology offers a chance to explore new frontiers that can accelerate economic growth and societal progress. With South Africa’s G20 presidency this year, the continent has an unprecedented opportunity to not only scale adoption of digital ID and DPI but to shape the global governance around them. The real question is not whether we should build digital ID systems. Rather, it’s about how we build them and who they serve. It is therefore critical to increase efforts to inform Africans about digital ID, highlighting both the benefits and the challenges that need to be responsibly addressed. If we don’t encourage transparent and honest debate, we risk alienating people from transformative technology to the detriment of Africa’s future.
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