Mbuyiselo Botha joined Sonke in July 2008 as the organisation’s former Media and Government Liaison. Mbuyiselo was active in the anti-apartheid struggle as a leader in South African Civics Movement, especially in his home community of Sharpeville. Prior to joining Sonke, he worked as the Dissemination Officer for the International Red Cross based in South Africa in the 1980s and was a founder member and Secretary General of the South African Men’s Forum where he coordinated advocacy, training and community based structure building to promote gender equality.
Through his advocacy work, Mbuyiselo has been featured in hundreds of newspaper, radio and television features and interviews and is widely recognised for his work in South Africa and across the world. Mbuyiselo co-hosts weekly talk shows on many commercial and community radio stations, reaching millions of listeners each week. He is also a regular contributing columnist in many of South Africa’s leading newspapers. He has presented at dozens of international gender, health and human rights conferences around the world. In 2007, during a women’s day celebration speech in Galeshewe near Kimberley, President Thabo Mbeki singled Mbuyiselo out for special praise and expressed his appreciation for Mbuyiselo’s work done with men for gender equality in South Africa.
In January 2014, he was appointed by President Jacob Zuma as a part-time commissioner of the Commission for Gender Equality for 5 years. He serves on the Board of Directors of the following organisations: Gender Links, University of South Africa Institute for Social and Health Science and Lifeline (Vaal Triangle). He is the proud father of three children, one boy and two girls and a grandfather to three boys.
