Zolani Zondani walks 800km for men's mental health awareness

After walking nearly 800 kilometres from Gqeberha to Cape Town, 28-year-old Zolani Zondani, says he is finally living his dream, one rooted not in fame or fortune, but in healing, brotherhood, and mental health awareness.

Zondani arrived in the Mother City to a hero’s welcome after spending weeks on the road, raising awareness about men’s mental health following the loss of his younger brother to drug addiction.

“It feels unbelievable,” he said with a tired but heartfelt smile. 

“It feels like a dream, and it’s quite an enjoyable dream. I wish I wouldn’t wake up, because I see a lot of smiles on people’s faces, and it’s under my name and the support of the organisation I’ve always wished to start. Now, I’m living my dream.”

He explained that the walk was not just a test of endurance but a mission of purpose.

“I sacrificed my time and my body... I’m not sacrificing them for money. I’m sacrificing for a good initiative that will help people back home, here in Cape Town, and all over the country,” he said.

That initiative is called Broski “The Living Experience”, a project aimed at creating safe spaces for men to express vulnerability and share their struggles. 

“The word ‘Broski’ comes from the slang for brother,” he said. “It’s for men who are willing to be open with each other. We were taught that a man does not cry, but I believe sometimes tears have louder meaning than words.”

Zondani said his journey was deeply personal.

“I lost my brother to drugs. He was younger than me, and I could see he was going through things. We grew up without a father, and even where we are staying, there is no father figure. I’m proud of the women who raised us, but life was not fair to him. Drugs took away everything he was supposed to live for. I couldn’t help him then, so now I’m helping others not to become another statistic.”

The emotional walk ended on a high note at the City Hall, where Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis met Zondani to congratulate him on his extraordinary journey and message. 

“He’s done a good thing for the country and for the city,” the mayor said. “He’s received huge support from around South Africa, and I think he deserves a lot of credit. It’s not an easy thing that he’s done.”

The mayor said that while the City runs various social development programmes, including work with homeless people and at-risk youth, it does not yet have one specifically focused on men’s mental health.

“We’ve got several social development programmes in our Community Services and Health Department that work mainly with children in the after-school environment and with homeless people, many of whom have undiagnosed mental health conditions,” Hill-Lewis said. 

“But we don’t have specific programmes targeted at men’s mental health, that would mainly be a function of provincial psychiatric hospitals and facilities.”

“It’s definitely something we can take up,” he said. “We may speak to our colleagues in the provincial Health Department about their mental health awareness programmes and see how we can collaborate.”

For Zondani, his walk was only the beginning. He hopes to turn “Broski-The Living Experience” into a national platform that reaches young men across South Africa’s towns and cities.

“We need to talk about our feelings,” he said. “Men are not advocated for enough. We can’t heal what we don’t speak about.”

He added that he started this journey because of pain.

“But I’m ending it with purpose.”

Cape Times