PHOTO: Vukosi Mashele from Bonn village in Tzaneen, South African Social Media Awards Nominee.
Artist and mental health practitioner Vukosi Mashele from Bonn village in Tzaneen received a double nomination for this year’s edition of the South African Social Media Awards #SASMA22. The awards recognise the best campaigns, individuals, and digital tools in the South African social media landscape.
Mashele has been nominated in two categories, Social Media Motivational Speaker of the Year and Social Media Charity of the Year and says the nominations came as a pleasant surprise.
In recognition of my work, someone else entered the competition on my behalf. I was fresh from an audition for a TV role on the day nominees were announced, and the function was not far, so I said to myself ‘why not?’. It came as a shock when my name was announced not only once, but twice.
— Remarked Mashele
Mashele is the founder of I Matter Consulting, a Life Coaching and Neuro Linguistics Programming (NLP) Practitioner company. The company offers free services to identified university students in the following areas: mental health coaching, personal development coaching, academic coaching, grief coaching and relationship coaching.
This is a second double nod for the trailblazer in the same year. In May Mashele was nominated at the 2022 Africa Board for Coaching, Consulting, and Coaching Psychology (ABCCCP) awards, in the Coach of The Year and Best Coaching Anchored Organization categories.
Vukosi is the last born child of the late Edward and Florence Mashele, who were both educators at Mbangwa Primary School which Vukosi himself attended before proceeding to St. George College in Nkowankowa where he matriculated. He fondly describes his parents as his biggest cheerleaders.
Though he initially wanted to study medicine, Vukosi is a Bachelor of Science graduate from Sefako Makgato University, majoring in Physics and Statistics and thought he would become a physicist. He however found himself in the entertainment industry as an actor, model, and influencer.
Mashele says he woke up one day and realised he could not recognise himself; he then made a conscious decision to change his state of mind and have a positive impact on others in the process, resulting in the birth of his company I Matter. A year later, Mashele was awarded a scholarship to attend the Subconscious Frequency Academy, where he trained as a Life Coach.
I remember posing for the camera and something…I think my energy or my spiritual GPS; my instinct saying to me, is this all there is to your life? I went back home wept like a baby after the shoot. From that day on, I made the conscious decision to live an impactful and meaningful life. I went through a journey of self-actualization — I would no longer be used by social media but use social media instead, to carry out my life’s mission.
— Mashele.
Mashele says his company is centred on three pillars: Healing, Transformation, and Balance.
These three pillars are at the heart of all the services we provide, aptly translating to our vision and daily intention of assisting people in living a balanced life on all levels: psychologically, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Thus, demonstrating to each life force that their existence matters, regardless of their past or present circumstances. To accomplish this, we heal broken parts, transform the perception of the broken pieces, and establish a holistic approach to living a balanced life.
— Mashele
I Matter is one of the many youths owned enterprises affected by post Covid-19 economy nationwide, and unfortunately could not proceed with a third instalment of the annual conferences due to economic constraints.
The organization successfully hosted two annual conferences previously, focusing on mental health. In 2020, I Matter Presents GBV: Finding a solution psychological emotional and spiritual solution to the gender-based violence crisis and 2021, Helping People Finish Off The Year Strong which focused specifically on year-end fatigue.
Mashele says he is fulfilled in helping people find ways to cope with life, by equipping them with realistic solutions to crises people face daily. He has a website imatterc.com, an online tool that enables him in his life mission. The South African Social Media Awards are scheduled for the 26th of November 2022.