Lungelo Mtwa, Amadiba youth on 'changing the narrative' - livelihoods linked to land & environment

Lungelo Mtwa Sukude, of Baleni village, in the Amadiba people's region of Mpondoland, South Africa, talks of why as a youth he has come back to his village rather than migrating out to a city. He is a tourist guide, runs an internet cafe in his village, writes, and makes films (currently one on food in his area). He started the Amadiba Community Network to enable access to 'remote' villages. He talks about wanting to do all this not only out of interest, but also to give back to his community, to make products that are meaningful to his people's lives, to change the narrative away from mainstream dominant ones to what is emerging from his own community - 'to tell our stories'. Lungelo is also part of the struggle against mining and other destructive 'development' that are bring proposed here, convinced that "this is the good fight", helping the Amadiba Crisis Committee (leading the struggle) in documentation and media. Interview by Ashish Kothari at Mtatya village, 16.6.2026.