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Zandi Ndhlovu is Mzani's first black female freediving instructor.
Zandi Ndhlovu who is also known as the Black Mermaid is big on bringing access in marine life. Picture: zandithemermaid/Instagram
Zandi Ndhlovu says she got the ‘black mermaid’ tag during a radio interview where callers kept referring to her as ‘watermeisie’, which is the Afrikaans word for mermaid.
“I said there’s something about that, because I feel like I’ve seen mermaids but I’ve never seen a black mermaid and somehow that kind of lived and it’s stayed,” Ndhlovu tells The Citizen.
“Everyone will say ‘but there’s different mermaids that have always been black’ but when you look at Ariel [The Little Mermaid], the exploratory way of living with the ocean that has no fear attached to it, there is not enough of that representation, and so black mermaid helped.”
Ndhlovu, South Africa’s first black female freediving instructor, spoke to The Citizen ahead of Shark Week, which officially starts on Monday in South Africa.
“I think Shark Week is such a powerful platform for people to get educated but also the opportunity to care,” said Ndhlovu.
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Shark Week
Shark Week is an annual programming event on the Discovery Channel that celebrates sharks and ocean conservation. It features a week of shark-themed documentaries, specials and educational content.
It’s something that began in the US and is now in South Africa. While it kicks off on Monday in Africa, through Discovery Channel Africa, it wrapped up on Saturday in the US.
“Because of its scale, it [Shark Week] expands how we not only view sharks but who can be in the shark space and who can live and work in that space,” said Ndhlovu.
Some of the shows that will be screened on Discovery Channel Africa throughout this week include Battle for Shark Mountain, Great White Reign of Terror and Air Jaws: The Hunt for Colossus.
“What makes this year especially exciting is the incredible talent and stories coming out of Africa, from the breath-taking coastlines of Mozambique to the powerful voices of local scientists and conservationists,” said Head of Factual Channels DNets EMEA & Scripted Acquisition CEE, Kerrie McEvoy.
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Ndhlovu’s passion for sea life
It was less than 10 years ago when Ndhlovu went on her first snorkel trip in Bali, and nothing has been the same for her since.
“I was 28 years old, had no idea how to use a mask to snorkel and just absolutely fell in love, that’s of course after I freaked out.”
She says she found a sense of belonging when she snorkelled.
“That feeling of belonging would go on to change everything cause I knew I wanted to live with the ocean.”
She came back to South Africa and learnt how to scuba dive around 2017 and 2018.
“In 2019 I go on my first ever free diving course and as I held my breath under water, for the first time, there was that feeling [from 2016 in Bali] and I knew that’s where I needed to be.”
The following year, she qualified as a free-diving instructor, going on to become South Africa’s first black female free-diving instructor.
“From there, I started the Black Mermaid Foundation because I knew that I don’t want to work in a dive shop. I want to work to create access and increase representation because again, I come from Soweto, where we have different beliefs about water,” she says.
Ndhlovu adds that the idea is not to completely change these beliefs about water. “It’s the hope that we could introduce duality in how we view the world.”
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Ndhlovu on representation
She says the vision to be more intentional about representation and creating access expanded after 2019.
“It is said that when you arrive in a room and you’re the only one, your job is to keep that door open to make sure that everybody can enter the room and for me it was not about being the only one there that said how do we see a future that’s more representative. How we save anything is all hands on deck,” she shared.
“The more you educate, the more people know. The more people know, the more people do. That’s why for us ocean literacy is huge,” she shared.
Ndhlovu has been named in the BBC 100 Women list, and she continues to inspire as a powerful voice for ocean equity and youth empowerment.
She decided to target kids because they are more receptive to her teachings about marine life.
“Everyone would say ‘you do white people things’. I knew that my friends are not the way in which we’re gonna change this. I said ‘what does it mean if we try and catch them when they’re young’ and that’s how I started working with kids, 10 to 15 year olds.”
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Collaborating with communities
She’s now expanding and targeting high school students. Ndhlovu started by working with young students from Langa in Cape Town.
She now works closely with Philippi Village, a safe and vibrant space that connects the Philippi community to necessary services, employment opportunities, educational resources, and cultural activities.
“When we worked KwaLanga, yes we worked with the community advice office but we have as strong support. So when you look at Philippi Village, they have an excited team that are actively trying to make sure that learners have access to these opportunities. They are so determined.”
She says that when the Black Mermaid Foundation partnered with Philippi Village, opportunities began to open up.
“We’ve opened our first ocean hub. I think it’s important for the kids to go out to sea but they need to see that sea represented in their communities and we work in township spaces. How do you change a narrative without the community being able to witness this ocean space in their everyday as well.”
The Black Mermaid Foundation’s ocean hub is a container located in the Philippi Village, where students can visit to learn about sea life.
“Philippi Village gave us a safe space to establish the ocean hub and we’re growing, we’re expanding our work from one-off snorkel mission, educational missions to six weeks intentional missions that capacitate high school students to leaders in the ocean space,” she says.
“We want the world to witness Africa in her brilliance. Just because we grow up in townships, our geniuses are different because we have a different kind of lived experience.
“Our genius shows up from the communities from which we come. We can build things that can scale because South Africa is 80 percent black, so much of our experiences are lived and shared.”
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