LISTEN | Ayanda Borotho opens up about what started her journey back to self

Since the release of her best seller book, Unbecoming To Become, author and actress Ayanda Borotho has been at the forefront of much needed conversations around liberating oppressed women.

As the nation prepares to celebrate Women's Day, Ayanda told TshisaLIVE what ignited her fire to speak out and have those often ignored conversations.

“I knew that there were many women who felt the way I felt and had walked the journey I had walked, but I didn’t realise that taking shackles off from myself and taking off everything that took away from everything I genuinely was, would inspire so many women.”

Here is what she had to say: 

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“It really was just me speaking my truth about what I saw in society but I also didn’t think women were ready to have these type of conversations which is why I didn’t think it would catch as much fire as it did.”

Even though she’s grateful for the movement her book and vlogs have sparked, she admits it wasn’t her end goal when she began her journey.

“I didn’t do it because I deliberately set out to challenge the status quo. I did it because I was just living my truth and honestly questioning from a place authenticity and saying, ‘But is this really how life is supposed to be for women?’ I think it was that honesty and that truth, and the raw authenticity, that helped the message resonate.”

Ayanda said she was very aware that her story and the things she speaks about are not new.

She said women had been speaking about issues that oppress them for a while. However, she felt that what she brought to the discussion was impactful, because it didn’t dance around the truth.

Her courage to address issues affecting women head-on spilt over into the character she plays on the popular Mzansi Magic show Isibaya. Phumelele’s journey added fuel to the heated debate about women redefining themselves.

“We didn’t plan it, it was just divine timing.

“We started saying, how can we reposition the women in this show because the truth is, Isibaya as a world is a toxic masculine world. We can’t deny that, but the trends globally are changing, where women are taking the centre stage and taking leading roles with power attached to them,” she explained.

The actress spoke about how that storyline blew up and sparked much needed conversations.

Ayanda went on to talk about GBV and how women have been made to take responsibility for every evil thing under the sun.

She spoke about exploring the need for women to have conversations with their daughters, so that the next generation of women is at least a little better off.