Nambitha Ben-Mazwi: I stand for African black girl magic always

Scandal! actress Nambitha Ben-Mazwi is all about representing black girl magic in her personal capacity, fighting for the struggles of the dark-skinned young girl.

Nambitha told TshisaLIVE recently that she has always been aware of her darker complexion and said she realised quite early on in her career that she had to use her strengths to her advantage, even if these were labelled as weaknesses by other people.

“I knew my strengths but more than that I had a strategy of what I wanted to do with my career. So I focused on building a reel, to avoid the common practice of being typecast. I also diversified my portfolio and one of the ways was doing campaigns. I did a lot of Pan-African campaigns, I know my market and my appeal and I stand for African black girl magic always."

Nambitha has previously shared how she was bullied for her dark skin when she was younger and said the entertainment industry in particular was all about colourism.

And while colourism is an ongoing debate, there is a general agreement that dark-skinned girls often get the short end of the stick.

It is for this reason that Nambitha started a campaign, #SheSpeaks, to show young girls that hard work will earn them their due credit, even if they might have to fight a bit harder.

“I’m all for women empowerment and I have this movement meant to help women. #SheSpeaks by Lady Nam is an ever-growing movement and it represents what I stand for. It is about having confidence no matter the colour or shade of your skin, your background or circumstance. It is about having a voice and using it.”