“You Always Choose How the Story Ends” – Nomzamo Mbatha

In an intimate interview with GLAMOUR South Africa, global star, actress, and humanitarian Nomzamo Mbatha shared how she continues to rewrite the rules — this time, strand by strand. As the first-ever South African ambassador for the international beauty brand Creme of Nature, Nomzamo is using her platform to spark conversations about hair, heritage, and identity, showing the world what it means to embrace your roots unapologetically.

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Visibly thrilled by the honor, she expressed what it means to represent a brand that speaks directly to African women. “On the spectrum of our radiance, our heritage, our identity, and our relationship with our hair, it’s powerful. I’d like to think that who I am represents different facets of womanhood, especially the African woman today.”

For Nomzamo, this journey is deeply personal. She reflects on her childhood in KwaMashu, where her mother and grandmother instilled enduring values. “The women that I remember from KwaMashu would say ‘engathi singakufihla umhlaba ungakoni’, which translates to ‘if only we could shield you from the world, that it may not ruin you.’ Of course, as a young girl you have very little context of the ways in which the world could ruin. As you grow, you realise and appreciate how much society can shape you into the kind of person who either lives up to their potential and exceeds it, or never fully realises it.”

Her grandmother, she explains, taught her to rebuild, value solitude, and remain humble — lessons that remain central to her identity today. “The significance of KwaMashu was that, without the hardship I was surrounded by, I often wonder if I would have led with survival and [moving forward] not only as my motivator but also a form of kryptonite. The energy, the vibrancy, the ambition was truly alive. But the dead dreams, the struggles and the apathy was equally present… You always choose how the story ends.”

Nomzamo is a woman who fully owns her narrative, moving to the beat of her own drum. She hopes her journey encourages other women to do the same. “If my presence allows another woman to give herself that same permission, then I’ve done my job by simply being myself.”

Her culture and community remain her guiding compass, shaping both her purpose and pride. “It has been my compass, my pillar that I lean on. It has also been the thing I am most proud of. Community is what I need to survive because it’s true that no man is an island. I’m inspired by my sense of community through friendships and also through engaging with women from near and far who I truly admire and learn from, even without having a personal relationship with them. Culture and heritage is what I want to keep most alive; it’s my sense of pride, an identifier that has helped me lean on where and who I come from.”

On representing Creme of Nature, Nomzamo says it’s about more than products — it’s about connection and representation. “It means being in conversation with women — not just selling to them. This brand sees our textured hair in all its beauty and complexity. Whether it’s the hair growing from our scalp or the hair we choose as part of our identity; wigs, protective styles, shrinkage moments — Creme of Nature has us covered.”

Picture: @glamour_sa