Dr. Mmatshilo Motsei, is a healer, midwife, author, and Executive Director of Afrika Ikalafe Pluriversity, which is an institution that specialises in personal and societal transformation and is founded on African spiritual principles. Her overall aim is to uncover the old truth that Africa is great and powerful, and that our soul is afflicted because of colonial poisoning of the mind.

She holds an Integrated Diploma in General Nursing and Midwifery (B.Cur) majoring in Nursing Education and Community Health (University of the North), BA Honours Psychology (UNISA), MA Creative Writing (Rhodes University). She is a recipient of two Honorary Doctorates: One in Community Psychology (University of Zululand), for her integrative healing work with men, and the other in Social Professions (Nelson Mandela University) for her work in using the Indigenous healing justice framework in responding to sexual violence in South Africa.

She completed her PhD in Sociology at the University of Pretoria. Her thesis, was supervised by Dr Rachelle Chadwick (University of Bristol, UK), and is titled Humanising childbirth in South Africa: The role of Indigenous midwives in countering obstetric violence. In 2022-2023 she served as a member of the Leading Feminist Voices in Africa leadership programme housed at the King’s College, London UK.

A mother of two adult sons and a daughter, she started her career as a nurse, midwife, psychological counsellor, social science researcher, gender transformation and rural development facilitator. In 1995 she was seconded to the Office President Mandela to start a process of setting up the National Gender Machinery. She has worked with women and men across Africa, including women who were raped during the war in Mogadishu, Somalia. Beyond Africa, she has worked with institutions in North America, Australia, Europe, and Asia. In 2013, she undertook a seven-day climb of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for Tsogang Basadi Orphans Project in Maviljan village in Bushbuckridge, Limpopo.

She is the author of six books:

• Hearing Visions Seeing Voices
• The Kanga and the Kangaroo Court: Reflections on the Rape Trial of Jacob Zuma
• Find Your Star and Live Your Purpose
• Istraight Lendaba and Other Stories
• Sesesedi Whirlwind
• Reweaving the Soul of the Nation

Her scholarly work involves teaching various modules in different universities. This includes Feminism and Healing for Honours Gender Studies at the University of Cape Town, and Indigenous Knowledge and Sustainable Development for Postgraduate Diploma students at Stellenbosch University.

As acknowledgement for her work, she received numerous national and international awards, including the International Human Rights Award from Human Rights Watch, NY, and the United Nations Scroll of Honour Award for her work involving men as part of the solution to violence against women.