Life in politics and the taxi industry with Mbali Ntuli.

Whether you’re a news junkie or simply scan the headlines on your phone, the name Mbali Ntuli will ring a bell. She first came to the fore as the DA’s Provincial Youth Chairperson in KZN in 2008. Her commitment and leadership skills took her through the ranks and she was the youngest person ever to stand for the national leadership of the party.

Mbali’s family is involved in the taxi industry, which means she knows what power means in our beautiful, fractured country. To say that she’s had an interesting life is an understatement. In my chat with her on the Willing & Abel Podcast , we speak politics, power and empowering communities to become active participants in their future.

Voter “activations”?

In her capacity as the founder and leader of Ground Work Collective , Mbali works with communities to help them become more self-sufficient and active in deciding their future, including voting. “It's not because people don't care about their democracy, it's because there's so much noise in South Africa that to break through the sound barrier, you almost have to make people see what's in it for them to really pay attention,” she says of convincing people to vote.

As someone who works in advertising, marketing and communications, I know the value of activations when it comes to raising awareness. Mbali tapped into this as a young DA leader trying to make young people excited about politics and voting. “I couldn't just say: ‘Hey, my name is Mbali and I think it's really important that you should vote. So why don't you come and register?’ Because no-one would care. I mean, everyone's saying that. But if I say come and vote, and you’ll also get a free KFC voucher, guaranteed, then it’s exciting.”

Many of the young people who came for the vouchers have become more involved and signed up via Ground Work Collective to volunteer as observers at the upcoming elections.

This led us nicely to my next question: what had led Mbali herself into politics?

“I have been wondering that myself. I certainly was interested in politics from a very young age. When I was little, we were one of the first Black families in La Lucia, in Durban."

"Because it’s our culture to slaughter a cow when someone dies, we had cows. One of them got loose and started running around. It was a big drama and there was a bit of tension, but one of the things that I remember is that once the situation had calmed down, a man called Roger Burrows came to see my mum to ask her about our cultural practices,” Mbali remembers.

This was in 1996, in the very new South Africa. “It seemed really great to me that the leader of the Democratic Party, which he was at the time, could be humble enough to come to a small family and make them feel welcome. He used a lot of the knowledge that my mum gave him to help write some of the bylaws around cultural rights, which still exist in South Africa today.”

Looking back, Mbali says lots of little stories like this brought her to politics. She has always loved history and the world and people. “That is what politics is. It's how the world and people integrate together, and how societies form. By the age of 12, I was telling people that I wanted to go into politics.”

Her time at Rhodes University opened Mbali’s eyes to the fact that not everyone had the opportunities she had, as the daughter of an influential taxi boss and a teacher. From there, it was a short journey into politics.

That was 2008, and she stayed in the DA in various roles until 2022. Towards the end, things were difficult for her and there were many reports in the media of conflict between her and other party members, but she is, after all, the daughter of the founder of the KwaZulu-Natal Taxi Association.

Lessons from the taxi industry

After the death of her father, Mbali’s mother inherited his routes, and she supported her mother, who was thrust into the role of a taxi boss. “There were lots of violence and assassination attempts on our lives all the time. We had to go to boarding school. We had bodyguards."

“But I learnt two things from watching all of this happen. Power is never given. You have to take it. And you have to not be afraid of conflict. I think those two things have been very important in my political career, and in life. I'm not really afraid of anything.”

Now that she’s a mum of two small children herself, Mbali has stepped away from the taxi business, but plans to go back to it when her children are a little older. It’s a tough business, but I can well imagine that it has taught her a lot.

“The lessons that I carry with me are to never assume that people are just going to make space and make a way for you, and that if you want to do something – if you believe in it – you have to go for it and back yourself. No-one's going to step away and do it for you.”

As I’m about to say that that sounds like Mbali the politician talking, she says, “I’ve always been comfortable with conflict. I’ve always been able to stand up for what I believe in. That's always been a big part of who I am. That's why, I think, I went into the work that I did, and why I continue to do what I do now."

“I like to stand up for people who don’t have voices. I feel like a big part of what life has given me is the ability to do that.”

My conversation with Mbali illustrates the reason I began the Willing & Abel Podcast – to initiate hopeful conversations that challenge perspectives. Her political career in the DA, her family’s life in the taxi industry, and now her community work to bring about change one step at a time, are truly unique.

Season 1 of the Willing & Abel Podcast is brought to you by M&C Saatchi Abel , a proudly South African award-winning creative company founded on the principle of Brutal Simplicity of Thought.