Zibuyile iinkokheli

Hey leader!

I’m pretty sure you’re wondering who the person behind Zibuyile iinkokheli is – the face, the personality, the background and and and. I could sum it all up on this post but in doing so, I would risk omitting details which are necessary to share as part of my life’s story. So here I’ll just give you a snapshot of the entire puzzle so you have an idea of what the bigger picture looks like as we embark on this journey of finding the smaller pieces and fitting them together.

I love puzzles, and if you do too, you will know that one of the best and reliable methods of completing one is finding the corner pieces first, then the edges. Get the frame together then everything else will fall into place. So first things first: the face. I mean frame.

I’m Zoluntu Mpantsha – named Zibuyile iinkokheli Zoluntu (the nation’s leaders have returned) by my parents. Fun fact, I have a third Xhosa name which also starts with a “Z”, go figure the comments and questions I’ve had to answer from the minute I sat at Home Affairs to get my ID done and to this day, each time I pull out my ID.

For the longest time I used to hate my names, mostly because I didn’t understand their origin and people imposed their definitions on me, which I loathed even more. The first assumption I get when I introduce myself as Zoluntu is, “Ohhh. Iintombi Zoluntu?” Which loosely translates as, community girls. Which becomes even worse when they interprete my names as “Zibuyile iintombi Zoluntu.” And it begs the question, zibuye xa beziyephi? (They have returned, but where were they in the first place?)

Then there was the mocking, “Zibuyile (insert animal) Zoluntu.” I remember this one striking a nerve when I was in grade 10. When the person said it, I had never heard that version before and in their joking, I laughed. However, the minute I got home, I locked myself in my room and wept. I toyed with this new version of what people thought of my names for a while because being the analyser that I am, I reviewed that statement from every angle there was, and man, I probably even came up with new angles that night!

I digress…which you will find I tend to do quite a lot both in writing and speech. Everything is knit together in my mind and my ability to recall events? Impeccable. I’ll finish the story of my name on a separate post but to answer your question about my turning point: I eventually asked my Mom about the origins of my name and following that brief conversation, clarity and understanding were introduced.

When I discovered the true meaning of what my name (singular, because I decided on that day that you cannot use each name in isolation), I stopped being bothered by people’s assumptions and interpretations. Instead, I would tenderly correct and explain, sparking a meaningful conversation and thankfully, bypassing the small talk which would leave me cringing internally but with a grin on the outside.

For it is by God’s grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God’s gift, so that no one can boast about it.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (GNT)

And with that said, you will find me sharing a lot about Jesus on this blog. My life centers around Him and the era of being shy and apologetic about this is over. I will narrate stories about how I, a little girl who was once (spiritually) dead and quite literally doomed for death and destruction, got saved by grace, through faith, and is now navigating life as a Christian.

I love family and I treasure those bonds dearly. As cliché as this may sound, to me, family is not limited to blood ties. Some of my closest relationships aren’t even due to shared DNA. Buuut, if you want to be technical about things, I am my Mom’s only child. I have many siblings though (both relational and by divine encounters), and on this one I will rather tread very lightly because one thing I’ve determined not to do as I write, is telling other people’s stories without their consent, in an effort to tell mine. Once permission is granted, I will tell those stories too.

Here are some facts about me you didn’t ask for but I’ll share anyways.

I was born on Sunday, 25 June 1995 in rural Eastern Cape at a district hospital called Sipethu in Mt. Frere. My maternal aunt was my Mom’s midwife – nevermind the fact that I ended up being born via emergency C-section. I weighed 3500g at birth and I guess that’s where my overachieving and perfectionist tendencies started.

I spent the first few months of life with my maternal grandmother uMaDlamini in Bizana because my Mom had to go back to work, after which I moved to Qumbu to live with my Mom and cousin for a few years. We moved to Mthatha in December 2001 and that has been home to me since.

We’ll talk about the nitty gritties of my schooling career at a later stage but I’m a medical doctor – UCT graduate, completed internship at Groote Schuur Hospital [tertiary hospital, Cape Town] and community service at Tintswalo Hospital [district hospital, Acornhoek, Mpumalanga].

I love reading and writing although I abandoned the habits over the years and currently easing myself back into it. In as much as I’m a homebody, I love hiking and outdoorsy adventures. I speak fluent acts of service and gift giving but my heart understands quality time best. I don’t spend a lot of time with people because of my line of work but when I do, let’s run errands together, let’s sit in the car and chat, let’s catch up while we cook/bake, let’s go hiking or something. I appreciate having to sit with someone and have a conversation over tea (I don’t drink coffee) or a meal but honestly, it’s the admin that comes with aligning schedules that gets to me. So how about we squeeze in time together as we go about our day-to-day business? Also, I often learn more about a person when I spend time with them in their natural habitat, with no pressure to impress.

Ok, I’ll stop here before I hit any more tangents than I have already. What else is important to include in a “meet the writer” post?

Let me know by dropping a comment below if there’s anything I left out that you were hoping to hear (read) and I’ll bookmark those questions for future posts.

As a side note, I’ll be asking questions in all of my posts because in this community, I am hoping that we will get to know each other, share and learn from each other’s experiences as we do life and lead.

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