Johannesburg - Well-known traditional healer and entrepreneur Gogo Manzini, born Thabo Mahlangu, wants to be a beacon of light to others using her gift.
Mahlangu prides herself on being a modern healer with a flair for helping communities heal and uncover solutions to their problems. She shares details about her spiritual gift, revealing that she had to be ill to accept her calling.
Recollecting different events before accepting her calling, she says trying to cope with work was difficult because she would simply quit without a valid reason.
The healer from Mpumalanga knew that the more she ran away from the truth, the more ominous the situation was going to be, and that is how she decided to face the music.
"It is something that I had a long time ago, but then obviously we get in denial about accepting it because we have our own superstitions. We think this is bad; this is worse. Everything that has to do with the spiritual journey of traditional healing that we think is bad. I was doing very well at school, and now this thing knocks and tells me that I am here and I want you to work for me. You can study all that you want, but you will work for Amadlozi. I got a job and I left after a few days," said Mahlangu.
"My life became miserable because now I had no income; I was not working and just devoted my life to drinking and partying. And when I got sick, that was a wake-up call to say, look, you are dying now. It's either you do this or do that. When you are sick you get dreams, and the dreams tell you that your condition will not change until you accept your calling."
Faced with challenges like many LGBTQI+ community members, Manzini also shares her experience of being religiously segregated. Mahlangu was raised by her late aunt, a devout Christian who instilled God and the church as a foundation.
However, Gogo Manzini felt the church was not the place for her due to the homophobic teachings she experienced.
"I was sitting in church, and the pastor took a mic and spoke about men who wear earrings and dresses. And now everyone at church was looking at me. I decided I was never going to stay."
Her casting agency, K.O.S Casting, is based in Sandton and is one of the things she is very passionate about – the arts and developing young talent.
A lover of fine things — fashion and lifestyle — Manzini was not only born to heal traditionally but to inspire others to be more themselves, to find their true purpose, and live their full expression without fear.
The journey has been a roller-coaster, but after four years in her practice, Manzini is thriving.
"I am blessed to be where I am and to be doing what I love. I am passionate about making a difference; I get to do that daily in the various hats I wear, but most of all I get to live my truth unapologetically," said the healer.
The Star