Despite being unemployed, she collects sanitary towels, school uniforms and shoes through donations and with the help of her own family, and donates them to impoverished pupils in nearby schools.
She recalled how as a young girl she once rushed to the school staff room after her period came on unexpectedly and she did not have a sanitary pad with her.
But she was chased away by teachers and told to go back to class.
In the end, she had no choice but wrap her school jersey around her waist to cover the stain on her skirt.
As an adult she remembered that moment and decided to collect sanitary towels for disadvantaged girls.
Her older sisters, Olwethu, 35, Khayakazi, 31, and Sinovuyo, 30, have also dug into their own pockets to bring joy to the younger ones in her village by hiring jumping castles.
Through her activism she has brought in several government departments, including health, social development and the police, to raise awareness on the many social challenges in her village, including drug and alcohol abuse, teenage pregnancy and rape.
“I am probably the only young person who does not drink in our village. I am trying to rescue our young people but it is not easy,” she said.
“Some of the children born in 2000 have two children of their own who they can’t take care of because they are into drugs and alcohol.”
Some girls who took drugs had stopped going to school, she said.
Unemployment was also high in Kaplan, with even college graduates sitting at home without jobs. This meant many young people spent most of their time in taverns.
With two children of her own, she believes children are to be treasured and nurtured to reach their full potential.
As a young girl she would feel bad when she saw another child sad or in pain.
For that empathy, she credits her father Zolile Ntlani, now a pensioner, whose loving and giving nature was legendary in Kaplan.
Her mother, Nolitha, said her daughter had always loved helping others. Her older sisters, who are now married, always sent their own children to her.
“I always thought some of the things she does are only done by people from well-to-do backgrounds,” Nolitha said.
“At first we did not even understand why and how she managed to pull some of these things off. We are super proud of her.”
The Rev Dr Zweledinga Tyumre, who leads the Anglican church in Kaplan, nominated Ntlani as a Local Hero, describing her as a true hero in her community.
He is amazed at what she was capable of doing despite her tender age.
“I have assisted her in some of her work,” he said.
“She does not go for glory but is pushed by her genuine love of young people and her passion to help others.
“Wherever there are young people in distress, she is always there to lend a helping hand.
“She is a hero and a beacon of hope for our community.”
DispatchLIVE
Kaplan village hero driven by a passion to help others
Ntlani at the forefront of awareness campaigns for the youth to fight scourges in the community
Image: SUPPLIED
When she was 13, Siyamthanda Ntlani was bullied by her schoolteachers and fellow pupils after undergoing the Xhosa spiritual calling of ukuthwasa to become a healer or sangoma.
“The teachers would say they were afraid of me and didn’t know how to teach someone wearing iintsimbi (beads), even though I didn’t wear them at school,” she said.
“I also wore an empty goat’s gallbladder on my head and I remember being teased by one of my classmates, saying I must remove the condom on my forehead.
“I was too young to know what was happening. I used to feel powerless. So I just took everything on the chin and went on with my life.”
But when she witnessed a young girl of a similar age from her Kaplan village in Mthatha suffering the same fate about three years ago, it left her blood boiling. This time she knew she had to act.
“I had flashbacks to when it happened to me,” Ntlani said this week.
“She was bullied by her peers in our church and by her schoolmates.
“She was quiet to a point where I felt maybe there was something that was not right with her mentally.
“She was a member of an Inkciyo virginity group. Even there she was bullied by her peers. I had to do something.”
The girl was later raped and killed.
Ntlani, a devout Christian and member of the New Church of God in Galilee, is her church’s Sunday school president.
Her responsibilities including teaching young children about God and the Bible.
And so she was able to round the children up and teach them about the dangers of bullying.
Now 26, Ntlani has become something of a hero in Kaplan.
She organises awareness programmes for the youth, focusing on drugs and alcohol abuse, bullying, teenage pregnancy and rape.
Despite being unemployed, she collects sanitary towels, school uniforms and shoes through donations and with the help of her own family, and donates them to impoverished pupils in nearby schools.
She recalled how as a young girl she once rushed to the school staff room after her period came on unexpectedly and she did not have a sanitary pad with her.
But she was chased away by teachers and told to go back to class.
In the end, she had no choice but wrap her school jersey around her waist to cover the stain on her skirt.
As an adult she remembered that moment and decided to collect sanitary towels for disadvantaged girls.
Her older sisters, Olwethu, 35, Khayakazi, 31, and Sinovuyo, 30, have also dug into their own pockets to bring joy to the younger ones in her village by hiring jumping castles.
Through her activism she has brought in several government departments, including health, social development and the police, to raise awareness on the many social challenges in her village, including drug and alcohol abuse, teenage pregnancy and rape.
“I am probably the only young person who does not drink in our village. I am trying to rescue our young people but it is not easy,” she said.
“Some of the children born in 2000 have two children of their own who they can’t take care of because they are into drugs and alcohol.”
Some girls who took drugs had stopped going to school, she said.
Unemployment was also high in Kaplan, with even college graduates sitting at home without jobs. This meant many young people spent most of their time in taverns.
With two children of her own, she believes children are to be treasured and nurtured to reach their full potential.
As a young girl she would feel bad when she saw another child sad or in pain.
For that empathy, she credits her father Zolile Ntlani, now a pensioner, whose loving and giving nature was legendary in Kaplan.
Her mother, Nolitha, said her daughter had always loved helping others. Her older sisters, who are now married, always sent their own children to her.
“I always thought some of the things she does are only done by people from well-to-do backgrounds,” Nolitha said.
“At first we did not even understand why and how she managed to pull some of these things off. We are super proud of her.”
The Rev Dr Zweledinga Tyumre, who leads the Anglican church in Kaplan, nominated Ntlani as a Local Hero, describing her as a true hero in her community.
He is amazed at what she was capable of doing despite her tender age.
“I have assisted her in some of her work,” he said.
“She does not go for glory but is pushed by her genuine love of young people and her passion to help others.
“Wherever there are young people in distress, she is always there to lend a helping hand.
“She is a hero and a beacon of hope for our community.”
DispatchLIVE
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