Tsitsi Nomsa Ngwenya is well-known as a writer, but she is a woman whose life is a story of resilience. She has been a Town Planning Consultant of 22 years, a writer with four published books, and three more on the way.
She’s featured in five anthologies. She built an empire from home as a single mother.
She financed a women empowerment project in her community that earned her an invitation to Parliament.
She was honoured as the SPAR Business Woman of the Year. She lost it all at 36 and yet rebuilt herself from scratch through writing.
Literary journalist Beaven Tapureta (BT) talks to Tsitsi Nomsa Ngwenya (TNN), this time not about her books but about how she triumphed over life difficulties.
BT: Who is Tsitsi beyond the titles?
TNN: Beyond the titles, I am a mother first. A woman who built something from home with toddlers, who built something for my community with other women. I am the woman who lost everything and refused to disappear.
BT: Why did you leave your marriage so young?
TNN: My ex-husband wanted me to quit college and be a housewife. I was not yet a fully qualified Town Planner. He was not even paying my fees or able to take care of the baby and me. I left, gave my little boy to my sister, and returned to college full time. It was hard, but I did it anyway, and I have no regrets. That decision gave me my profession and my independence.
BT: How did you build success as a single mother?
TNN: Focus. I just focused on me, raising my children alone, and I kept going. I failed many times in business, but I kept working harder until it worked.
BT: Tell us about that women empowerment project?
TNN: It is one of my proudest achievements. I financed the project, but my family and my community helped too — they were there as hands alongside the professionals. Together we built a 2 000 square metre greenhouse for tomatoes; we drilled 2 boreholes and installed 2 by 5 000 litre tanks for water, we built the fowl runs for 3 000 chickens raised at 2-week age intervals; and we built a 4-bedroom project house with an office. We powered the whole business using solar and a 5.5kva generator. We grew tomatoes, raised chickens, made crafts — and we made a lot of profit. It was not just business; it was sisterhood, economic freedom, and community ownership. And that project is what earned me the invitation to Parliament in 2009.
BT: What did success look like at its peak?
TNN: Parliament at 32 because of that women empowerment project, SPAR Business Woman of the Year second runner-up at 35 in Harare, 17 properties, four income streams, respect from banks and media. I felt honoured.
BT: You say you lost it all at 36. What happened?
TNN: Two things. My own mistakes — I entertained the wrong people and trusted too much when I should have discerned — and the economic hardship Zimbabwe faced in 2008/9. Together, these forces destroyed my everything.
BT: When was your lowest moment in life?
TNN: Being in serious debt, alone, with no support, hiding in writing for three years, then rebuilding myself quietly from scratch.
BT: Any final word?
TNN: I showed up every day. And I am still showing up. Thank you.
BT: Tsitsi, thank you very much for the inspiration and courage.
