WATCH | Nomzamo Mbatha — the 'small success story' — hosts international Global Citizen award ceremony in New York

South African actress and activist Nomzamo Mbatha was surprised when asked to host the fifth Global Citizen Prize Awards ceremony held in New York on Thursday.

“When I was asked to host [the awards], I thought, 'Really!?'” said Mbatha.

“I was obviously very honoured and now the nerves have set in. I'm very, very nervous about tonight, about hosting. And I'm nervous because I care — I care about making sure that the evening is perfect for the individuals who are going to be honoured tonight because they deserve a perfect evening for the work they've done. But most importantly, they just deserve to have their work highlighted and celebrated,” she said a few hours before the ceremony in the Big Apple.

Mbatha is an ambassador for Global Citizen, a massive international advocacy organisation which says it is on a mission to end extreme poverty.

“For me, the message of Global Citizen galvanising an individual to make the change they want to see in the world and not just waiting on governments or waiting on private sector or waiting on anybody else to make the changes they want to see was one of the most impactful messages that made me sit back and say, 'That's the kind of organisation that I want to partner with and the kind of organisation I want to continue to amplify,'” said Mbatha.

At the event which saw the likes of singer Chris Martin from Coldplay, president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and actor Hugh Jackman as some of the big hitters, Global Citizen launched its new global campaign: “Power Our Planet: Act Today. Save Tomorrow.”

The announcement was made by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley during the Global Citizen NOW action summit in New York City. Power Our Planet is a global effort to mobilise critical financing for developing countries to fight climate change and extreme poverty.

“I took part as I want to ask everyone to support the organisations that are doing their very best to make a change in the world, because so many of us are products and byproducts of that,” Mbatha said.

“I would not be where I am had it not been for the government. Had it not been for private sector and had it not been for the organisations that came together to make this small little girl a small little success story.”

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.