Tlhodi Ntuli:
My name is Matlhodi Ntuli, hence Tlhodi for short. I am a 25-year-old environmentalist and wellness
enthusiast. My day job includes advising big corporate firms on how to better execute their
environmental, social and governance mandates. Additionally, I co-host and co-founded a podcast
called OFF TOPIC (yes in caps) which encourages open conversations about expanding self-
development, human consciousness and various experiences lived in the millennial life. I am an
intense lover of art, I see my world very artistically and its just my favourite form of human
communication. I enjoy all types of music I loathe confining my music interests to specific genres, so
I consider myself a musical nomad. I follow a vegetarian diet and I am absolutely obsessed with
traveling. All in all, I am an overall advocate for people doing what they love and re-inventing
themselves as many times as they need to. We are dynamic in our human expression, as such, the
story of our lives should have dynamic chapters.
When the lockdown was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa, I had no idea how drastically life
was about to change. For starters, I was going to be working remotely which introduced a whole
host of crash courses on various computer software that I would need to use while at home. I swear
I became tech specialist in just a week. While at home I have enjoyed observing life evolve around
me, we find ourselves in quite an interesting space, given that this pandemic is forcing a global
response to which we are all finding our own way through. It’s forcing us to be even more creative
than we ever have been; far more engaged with our empathy, as many suffer without food and
shelter, but above anything it is also testing our faith and how far down our individual spiritual
journeys we all are, its times like this where sourcing strength from a high power is truly necessary. I
am fortunate to still be able to do all my work at home on a daily basis which I am aware is a
privilege not many are afforded, so when I do have spare time I am reading more, watching some
Youtube and series, checking in on friends and family, working on my podcast – Off Topic, exploring
the next few spaces I would want to grow in creatively. I have also been taking mind and body
rejuvenation baths where I meditate in a salt bath and surround myself with my favourite crystals
and some burning Chakra aligning incense sticks. I have introduced home exercises, as being
sedentary was no longer working for me. More importantly, I make it a point to speak to my mother
and grandmother as much as I can. We are so caught up in online connectivity it may be easy to
forget that we are still in the presence of our loved ones and this is a chance for us to get to them
better and maintain in-person communication channels.
Written by:
Matlhodi Ntuli | Associate | Climate Change and Sustainability Services
