Physically diverse but equally committed

Zanele Mdodana

Jolynn Minnaar

One is as tall as the other is short; one as dark as the other white and one as glam as the other is casually chic.

On the surface the two women – both guest speakers during Diversity Month at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University on Monday 18 August – are worlds apart. They come from vastly different backgrounds too, but there’s more that unifies these women than makes them different.

So please meet Zanele Mdodana, the physically tall, dark, glamorous woman (when she’s not dashing about the netball court) and Jolynn Minnaar, the slightly-built, casually-dressed white woman.

Both have made their mark. Zanele as an exemplary Proteas netball player, a Laureas Sport ambassador and more recently as founder of the project “Vision Girls Foundation” and Jolynn as a talented film-maker and driving force in the concerns around fracking in the Karoo.

Zanele grew up in a Port Elizabeth township, Jolynn on a farm in the Karoo.

Their backgrounds and life experiences stand in complete opposition to one another, yet there’s more that unites than divides these young women.

Drive, perseverance, commitment and a sense of purpose unites them.

It’s the latter that makes both women exceptional.

Zanele, who is also an NMMU staff member with Madibaz Sport, wants to use her God-given talents to serve others, to be a role model and provide hope to netball players of tomorrow in Port Elizabeth and beyond.

Likewise, Jolynn is using her talents as a film-maker and the insights she gathered while tracing the gas industry in America, to trigger thinking as to whether shale gas really is the solution for our energy-hungry world.

Both are driven by a sense of purpose.

And both women will be talking about their passion and purpose on Monday at NMMU.

It's about passion and a sense of purpose 

Jolynn will also screening her film Unearthed – an investigative documentary that probes fracking in America. She spent five months in North America – from New Brunswick, Canada, to Pennsylvania, and West Virginia to Colorado – during which time she traced the gas industry and met scientists, gas companies and those living in gas drilling areas, to fully research this method of gas extraction.

All in all, Unearthed is the result of 18 months of research, over 400 interviews, a large number of gag orders, no trespassing zones and the reality of being exposed first-hand to chemicals on drilling sites.

But let Jolynn tell you more.

Here are the details:

Date: Monday 18 August

Time: 5.30pm to 8pm & again from 8pm to 9.30pm (two screenings)

Venue: NMMU South Campus Council Chambers

RSVP: marcelledutoil@gmail.com

The film received the WorldView award at the Durban FilmMart for the feature film, which was one of only eight of 106 submissions across Africa selected to participate. It has also since been viewed in Cape Town, Johannesburg and the United Kingdom.

Zanele in action as a Proteas netball player

And let Zanele, along with NMMU honours student Zanele Vimbela, share their experiences about netball with you at the recent Commonwealth Games. But you’ve been warned, Zanele Mdodana is likely to take you off the court because she has a purpose in life – and it goes beyond the confines of playing netball.

Here are the details:

Date: Monday 18 August

Time: 12pm to 1.30pm

Venue: Chancellor’s Room, Sports Centre, South Campus

RSVP: Boiketlo.mongoato@nmmu.a.c.za

Thanks CANRAD (our Centre for the Advancement of Non-Racialism & Democracy) for providing such diverse speakers and topics knowing, however, that there’s more that unites than divides them.