Author page: Lulama M

Ouma Tema’s PlusFab Marks 15 Years of Putting Style at the Heart of Inclusive Fashion

For 15 years, Ouma Tema has been creating fashion that gives fuller-figured people something the industry too often denied them: choice, confidence and the freedom to simply dress for themselves.

 

For designer Ouma Tema, fashion has never been simply about making clothes. It has been about making space. Fifteen years ago, when plus-size fashion was largely overlooked by mainstream retailers and media, Tema saw a gap that was personal to her as much as it was commercial. Where fuller-figured people were expected to find something that fitted, rather than fashion being designed with their bodies in mind.

 

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Twenty Summers In, K.O Finally Stops To Look Back

After two decades of hits, reinvention and resilience, K.O reflects on the man he has become, the lessons that shaped him and the legacy he still wants to build.

Twenty years of K.O have given us 20 summers of great hits—a culture that the young K.O could never have foreseen. Over those two decades, the talented muso has created a time capsule of music that resonates with us at different moments in our lives, whether good or bad. His songs have become part of our stories, even as he continues to tell his own.

 

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Rethabile Khumalo on Rediscovering the Woman Behind the Voice

After loss, betrayal and motherhood, Rethabile Khumalo finds clarity in grief and rediscovers the voice she once knew — and the future she now wants to build. 

There is a version of Rethabile Khumalo the public remembers — the young woman whose powerful voice introduced her to the country, whose songs became the soundtrack to celebrations, whose star seemed destined to keep rising. But the woman who sits across from me today feels different. Not because success has changed her, but because life has.

 

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Vusi Nova on the Power of Staying True to His Journey

From humble beginnings and personal trials to a celebrated career, the award-winning singer reflects on legacy, healing and why he refuses to stop singing. 

Vusi Nova is a towering figure in the South African entertainment industry. With a career spanning more than 15 years, the singer has collected a myriad of accolades, including prestigious South African Music Awards and Metro FM Music Awards, among others. His soulful voice and emotionally charged storytelling have earned him a loyal fanbase and cemented his place as one of the country’s most beloved musicians.

 

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Didie Makobane on the Quiet Cost and Lasting Power of Refusing to Change

From embracing her Sesotho identity in an industry that often favoured other languages to navigating rejection, uncertainty and personal growth, Didie Makobane has built a career rooted in authenticity, purpose and an unwavering belief in who she is.

For more than 15 years in South African entertainment, actress Moliehi Makobane — known as Didie — has built her career on one quiet decision: to remain firmly rooted in who she is.

 

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Botlhale Boikanyo: A Voice That Refuses to Be the Last

From a 11-year-old SA’s Got Talent winner to a storyteller shaping a generation, Botlhale Boikanyo reflects on purpose, poetry and why her greatest success lies in creating space for others to rise.

 

Fourteen years ago, a wide-eyed, confident 11-year-old girl from Mahikeng stepped onto the stage of SA’s Got Talent and did something no one had seen before. Armed only with her words and a belief bigger than her small frame—far bigger than her years—Botlhale Boikanyo became the first poet to win the reality show in its third season.

 

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Relebogile Maboja on Returning to the Woman She’s Always Been

At age 40, the multi-hyphenated star shares that her journey into music is not a reinvention, but a return — to her voice, her truth and reclaiming who she’s always been.

At 40, Relebogile Mabotja is not slowing down — she is opening up.

Not in the way the world often expects of women who have already “made it,” but in a way that feels deeply personal. With the release of her music project, Still Me, she has stepped into a space that has always been hers, but one she is only now ready to share fully.

 

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