A Local, Living Heritage of Exploration and Custodianship
Nkosi filming underwater, Photograph by Dercio Muha Gomate.
Nkosikhona Mthembu (b.2001) - a Sodwana Bay local with a passion for the ocean - has come a long way from being the shy young man working and gaining water skills in the tourist-driven dive sector.
Abandoning the idea that being a lawyer could be his future, he opted to pursue a path less travelled alongside Silindile ‘Sli’ Mbuyazi, a friend and mentor who has been fiercely committed to bringing others along with her as she rises from season and challenge to every next chapter.
Photograph by Samuel Mugaisi / #NEWF2025
When Nkosi joined the NEWF community in February 2022 as an intern, he was seen to be and felt like far more than an intern at every turn. Continuing his dive training with the support of Africa Refocused. Once eKhaya came along in November 2023, he dived into assisting with labs and activities, logistics and the daily running of eKhaya. Nkosi has been a constant presence lending a hand, absorbing information and spending as much time in the water as possible to hone his skills at every level.
In May 2021 his first dive felt like a dream come true, an awe-inspiring experience before joining NEWF that blazed a trail of bubbles to every next milestone — he had a taste of the peace, beauty and ecological significance of his home reefs and felt strongly about forging ahead to share these experiences firsthand with local youth just like him.
As NEWF grew, so did he. Nkosi reached his first big milestone by certifying as a PADI divemaster in April 2023, an SSI-certified instructor in March 2025, and then a PADI-certified instructor (conversion training) in June 2025.
His milestones and growth are marked along a steady series of 475 dives scattered across kilometres of thriving, coral encrusted reefs — and a handful of dives logged off the shores of Honduras where he was invited to join DWP Cares to immerse in coral gardening and learn about DWP’s programs.
“It was a dream come true travelling outside of South Africa to join the DWP CARES initiative in Honduras this year. I got to dive into the tropical waters of the Pacific ocean where I found myself connecting to and loving the ocean more than before.
The biggest shock was to see so many young people of colour connected with the ocean by the age of 16, a rare sight at home. I hope that the reason I was born in my community is to change that for my community.”
Photograph by Yarminiah Rosa / Diving With a Purpose
Moving towards his vision of being a familiar face guiding new, local divers to create bubble strewn paths of their own is not a passive one fuelled by hopes, dreams or delusions — he is doing the work to new levels and standards everyday. Not only as a dive instructor and youth mentor, but as a budding cinematographer framing nature through his lens above and below water; so far contributing to content produced for OceanX, as well as a recently Precious Home, released at the 2025 NEWF Congress in April where he also shared his story and passion for a new future for Sodwana Bay during In Conversation with Kamau Sadiki.
The 'Presence Crew' after In Conversation with Kamau Sadiki at #NEWF2025: Anumi Sassaroli (DWP Instructor, NEWF Global Fellow), Nkosi Mthembu (NEWF Dive Instructor), Kamau Sadiki (DWP Lead Instructor), Stefanie Titus (NEWF Impact Storyteller and Alumni), Yarminiah Rosa (DWP Photographer, Global NEWF Fellow).
In June 2025 NEWF, Africa Refocused, eKhaya and NEWF’s community of now more than 190 certified divers marked World Ocean’s Day by celebrating eKhaya’s certification as a PADI Educational facility. With it, came the news of Nkosi’s full time employment with NEWF — news that sent a ripple of ululation through the community — more specifically, NEWF’s ocean community many of whose dive journeys have Sli and Nkosi’s as recognisable and memorable characters.
For Sli and Nkosi, locals whose journey to the sea was fraught with difficulties, this is a personal milestone and a cornerstone of each of their legacies as local, Black ocean explorers, custodians and mentors.
“It’s so powerful being part of this and stepping to the other side. For me, it wasn’t easy to find an access, I had to work hard and without a real idea of what I would be able to do. Being part of these [training programs] is intense. It is amazing to witness their progress, and be there as their mentor and instructor to share my passion for the ocean.I believe these barriers to entry that we’ve been coming across are fading now. It feels like we have a chance as long as we keep working and learning together.”
Instead of remaining tightly tucked under Sli’s wings, Nkosi has begun spreading his own, creating room for others to be guided. With Sli still close by as a familiar sounding board and mentor, and growing experience training dive interns, global fellows, visiting mentors and countless fellows passing through NEWF’s ocean access program — he is gaining more confidence each day.
Together they prepare countless storytellers, scientists and explorers from Africa and their own communities to meet the requirements for certifications at every level, beginning of course with their Open Water dive licence — the dive that creates a waterline between old and new meaning around what it means to truly explore Africa and our own sense of belonging and custodianship.
Photograph by Dercio Muha Gomate.
Since our official announcement, twenty dive interns from the YES Employment Stimulus Program certified as open water divers - many starting with the basics of swimming and digging deep under Sli and Nkosi’s guidance to hone the broader fundamental skills that will see them through continued training.
“Seeing Nkosi take on a mentorship role and help train new people has been amazing.
Our journey together over the last few years started by learning and struggling together, he was my first mentee even though we didn’t call it that. This is just how we care for each other and our community.
Now I get to see his dedication and passion for sharing knowledge and inspiring the kids. He is making such a special difference to the people who come to eKhaya, and he is reaching his dreams and dreaming even bigger.”
Showing youth the underwater world in VR at eThekwini Blue Economy, 2024.
Nkosi Mthembu and Sli Mbuyazi flanked by YES Dive Interns on each side.
“This internship and supporting local youth from my community is making eKhaya the space of our dreams. Together we are giving young people the chance to gain new skills and explore their talent. Their empowerment and responsibility is growing as we do - we are so proud to be connecting local kids just like my own to nature and new possibilities.”
Adding to this, Nkosi shared how seeing all of these interns and being an integral part of the team dedicated to training them and a growing number of divers from Africa and the Diaspora has expanded his vision for his community's future.
From inside the community, it’s impossible to imagine what it looks like without Sli and Nkosi - together in the trenches of early training, they have grown together and individually in ways that are unique and important to each of their journeys.
Sli and Nkosi have come to represent the infinite ways that knowledge exchange supports progress — a space they didn’t entirely imagine possible just a few short years ago; is now warmly shared with a growing number of local youth whose growth is translated to languages that roll easily off their tongues, embedding knowledge and skills more deeply than English is able to.
Photograph by Samuel Mugaisi / #NEWF2025
“I am extremely blessed to be a witness to an entire African Community to come across borders and provinces through the ‘NEWF doors’ but to be a witness to Nkosi’s journey is an honour and a privilege. A role model to the youth of his community and others.
A journey is about more than helping, it is overcoming, learning together, sharing with each other, trusting others, encouraging one another, motivating each other and pushing forward. Then paving the way for the next generation.
Which is exactly what is happening here. Refocusing the narrative of what that looks like and what that means.”
Reflecting on this next milestone reached, Noel Kok (Co-Founder and Executive Director of NEWF), shared that providing conservation jobs for a community is not the same as investing in community. From NEWF’s perspective and values system, real and sustainable investment lies in enhancing capacity, building equity, and supporting communities to actively shape present and future agency, opportunity and of course custodianship.
“Our partnership with Wild Impact through the Nedbank YES program has been so important. It allows us to move beyond transactional opportunities and invest meaningfully in people, equipping them with dynamic skills, confidence, and pathways to become sustainable stewards of conservation.
While we are a proudly Pan-African community with strong global ties, there is truth in the saying that responsibility and care begins at home.
Through Africa Refocused, together with the National Geographic Society, we have built the largest ocean access program on this continent - 355 Fellows, 35 African countries, scientists, storytellers, conservationists among whom 190 are certified divers today - with many more to come. The tide is turning.”
Photograph by Dercio Muha Gomate.
Heritage Day presents a moment to reflect on the meaning of heritage in the context of this community both as a location and a people. It asks us to remember why community and representation matters, and how the agency to realise our dreams individually and collectively influences future narratives and the histories we experience as living heritage today.
From Sodwana Bay to the continent, a new generation rises.
To see, protect and belong.
