Yaya Mavundla is a multi-award-winning transgender activist, fashion muse, art curator and reality TV star. AMAKA sat down to have a one-on-one with the fashionista who hails from the rural parts of Kranskop in the Kwa-Zulu Natal Province of South Africa.
It still feels like yesterday when I first met Mavundla at South African Fashion Week back in 2017 at Sandton City. I can’t quite remember the colour, but she was wearing a mini skirt and a matching blazer. I watched her walk up the escalators and thought, “she has such beautiful legs”. I bumped into her at a few more events before a formal introduction, and she was as bubbly as I had imagined.
Mavundla was raised by her grandmother, who was like a mother to her since she didn't know her parents. When she was 16, she left home for greener pastures in Durban but returned a year later. Staying in the city exposed her to people like herself whom she never knew existed during her time in Kranskop.
Finding herself as a trans person
It was in 2013 when she reflected on her childhood and finally got the sense of who she’s always been. From there, she decided to live her truth and be open about her transition. While there is still more to learn, Mavundla is confident in living her life the way she sees fit and not according to what society expects of her.
“I don’t want to live my life according to the book, I want to create my own experience, my memories. As much as I want to know more about how trans people live and are, I still want to have my own identity to say, ‘this is what I believe in as Yaya’. I don’t want to confuse myself, that’s why most of the time I don’t subscribe to what the book says,” explains the Becoming TV star.
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Her role as a transgender activist
As a transgender activist, she has a responsibility to make sure that trans people are known, seen, celebrated and respected. As such, she has hosted exhibitions, including the Layers of a Black Transgender Woman and 31 Years of Pride in South Africa.
Hosted in August 2021, as part of the Women’s Month commemoration, Layers of a Black Transgender Woman was about validating transgender women as women. It featured The Way Ngingakhona reality TV star, Tholang Motshumi, and former Miss South Africa top 30 finalist, Lehlogonolo Machaba.
“My goal was to address issues of Black transgender women in South Africa, create space for inclusion and further say transgender women are women. It was important to get that message across during women’s month when South Africa was celebrating women with no mention of transgender women. It was also important that I use my platform by making sure that transgender women are respected as women and are deserving of the same spaces as all women and further be given the same opportunities,” says Mavundla.
For 31 Years Of Pride, she created a catalogue consisting of 31 letters from members of the LGBTIQ+ community and allies. Mavundla says when she started that campaign, she didn’t think it would be such a heavy load on her as she had to read all the letters, which made her realise that they’re all the same but have different journeys.
“It was overwhelming,at the same time exciting to see people willing to share their life stories. Many of them were excited to be allowed to tell their story in their [own] way, and the stories that we received touched me. The nice thing is that I didn’t get queer people only. There were also allies. We had Shudufhadzo Musiḓa, former Miss South Africa, Napo Masheane, a queer parent and Miss Tasha, an openly transgender woman who is a primary school teacher,” she says.
"I’m glad we have such a space where the world celebrates queer people. But, I wonder if it is a celebration. Why don’t we have the same energy everyday because we exist everyday? "
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Support and progress
Although there has been some progress, transgender people are still undervalued in South Africa. Unlike Mavundla, who was able to create opportunities for herself at a young age, most transgender women are overlooked and not afforded the same opportunities as any other woman. They are also not given the same treatment in public facilities.
“When you go to the police station as a trans person, it’s a huge drama. You are questioned about your gender identity before they even attend to your case. When you go to a clinic, you are subjected to nasty stares. I remember this one time I went to a public hospital, and a doctor, after she had discovered that I am trans, left me there and said ‘oh my gosh, so you’re a man’ and didn’t attend to me. It’s so sad, and it happens not just to me but to plenty of other people,” Mavundla explains.
As much as she is grateful for Pride Month, she still feels that the LGBTIQ+ community should be celebrated daily, and not just on specific dates. “I’m glad we have such a space where the world celebrates queer people. But, I wonder if it is a celebration. Why don’t we have the same energy everyday because we exist everyday? We have great people whom we should be celebrating. People like Nakhane Toure, Thami Dish and Zanele Muholi. Incredible people who do great things everyday, not just on Pride Month. Even other queer people in the townships fighting for their existence and those just living their truth,” says Mavundla.
To support the LGBTIQ+ community, Mavundla wants everyone to treat queer people with respect and afford them equal opportunities. She says people should also educate themselves about transgender people, that not every trans person you meet has had hormones or went through surgery. It’s more about their gender identity and not what they look like. At the end of the day, we're all humans, and like the rest, transgender people deserve love, respect and equal opportunities.