Mmabatho Makotanyane is creating safe spaces for women to heal, speak and move forward.

On image: Mmabatho Makotanyane.

There are people who report on society's biggest challenges, and then there are people who decide to get closer to the problem, ask harder questions and create spaces for change.

Mmabatho Makotanyane is one of them.

A journalist, communications professional, women's empowerment advocate and Gender Studies researcher, Makotanyane has built her work around something many people underestimate: the power of being heard.

Her work sits at the intersection of storytelling, research, women's empowerment and healing. While much of her academic and public work has focused on survivors of gender-based violence, her vision extends beyond one issue. Through her empowerment work, she creates spaces where women can navigate grief, divorce, childhood trauma, personal setbacks and the many experiences that can leave people feeling like they have to carry everything alone.

From lived questions to academic research

Makotanyane's recent BA Honours research in Gender Studies explored the psychological impact of gender-based violence and why many survivors turn to digital platforms when traditional support systems fail them.

For her, the subject was never simply academic.

"As a women's empowerment activist, I kept seeing survivors carrying invisible wounds long after the physical injuries had healed," she explains. "I wanted to understand what trauma does to the mind and why healing is often so complicated."

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That question led her deeper into understanding what happens after the headlines disappear.

The physical effects of violence may eventually heal, but the psychological impact can remain. Anxiety, depression, fear, emotional numbness, disrupted sleep and hypervigilance can become part of everyday life.

And sometimes, one of the most misunderstood responses is silence.

"People often think survivors are weak because they don't speak out, but silence is often a survival mechanism. It comes from shame, fear of being judged, or the pain of not being believed."

It is a reminder that not every wound is visible, and not every survivor is ready to tell their story on someone else's timeline.

When the internet becomes a place to be heard

One of the areas Makotanyane explored through her research was the role digital platforms play in the lives of survivors.

Social media, podcasts, blogs and online communities have created spaces where people can share experiences, find others who understand them and realise that they are not alone.

For someone who has spent years feeling isolated, that connection can matter.

But Makotanyane is equally clear about the limitations of online support.

"Online communities provide validation and connection. They help people realise they are not alone. But healing also requires trauma-informed counselling that addresses the root causes of pain."

For her, the digital world can open the door to conversation, but it should not replace professional support.

Changing the language around women's pain

One of the issues closest to Makotanyane's heart is the way society talks about survivors.

Too often, the conversation becomes about what the survivor did, where she was, what she wore, why she stayed or why she did not speak sooner.

Makotanyane believes that has to change.

"We need healing language," she says. "Language that comforts instead of blaming. Survivors shouldn't have to defend their pain while they're trying to recover from it."

That idea of healing language is central to her broader work.

Families, friends, workplaces and communities can either become places of safety or unintentionally deepen someone's wounds. Being dismissed, doubted or criticised after opening up can create another layer of trauma for someone who was already struggling.

Creating safer environments therefore requires more than telling people to speak up. It requires creating spaces where people know they will be listened to when they do.

Breaking cycles starts before the crisis

Makotanyane's research also looks beyond individual experiences to the environments in which people grow up.

Violence, unhealthy power dynamics and harmful ideas about relationships can become normalised when children repeatedly witness them in homes, schools and communities.

Without intervention, those patterns can continue from one generation to the next.

Breaking that cycle requires more than legislation.

It requires conversations about healthy relationships. It requires challenging harmful ideas about masculinity. It requires accessible, trauma-sensitive support. And it requires communities that value empathy, accountability and respect.

In other words, prevention has to become part of the conversation long before a crisis happens.

Creating spaces beyond GBV

This broader understanding of healing is also reflected in Makotanyane's work through MM Communications, where she facilitates women's empowerment sessions.

Importantly, these spaces are not exclusively for survivors of gender-based violence.

Women navigating grief, divorce, childhood trauma, personal challenges and other difficult seasons are also welcomed.

"Our sessions are not limited to gender-based violence survivors," she explains. "They are open to women from all walks of life and cover healing topics such as grief and loss, divorce, childhood trauma, and other empowering themes. Every woman going through something is invited to participate."

That inclusivity is important to her because women's experiences cannot always be placed into neat categories.

Sometimes someone simply needs a safe place to pause, reflect, speak and begin figuring out what comes next.

Makotanyane's approach combines empowerment, reflection and spiritual enrichment, with the broader goal of helping women reconnect with their resilience and move forward with greater confidence.

One quote continues to guide her work, "Shame dies when stories are told in safe spaces."

She has seen what happens when women finally feel safe enough to say the things they have carried quietly for years.

Sometimes, being heard is the beginning of something bigger.

The responsibility of telling these stories

As a journalist, Makotanyane also understands the power and responsibility, of the media.

Stories about gender-based violence can easily become sensationalised. Headlines can prioritise shock over dignity, while survivors can be reduced to details of what happened to them.

She believes journalism must do better.

Stories should protect survivors' dignity, use trauma-sensitive language and move the conversation away from victim-blaming and towards accountability.

It is a distinction that matters.

Because telling someone's story is not simply about getting the story out. It is also about considering what happens to the person whose life is being placed in the public eye.

A voice for the woman still finding hers

Despite the scale of the challenges facing South Africa, Makotanyane remains hopeful.

Her message to survivors is simple, "You are not what happened to you. Your pain is real, your voice matters, and you are not alone."

It is also a message that speaks to the heart of her work.

Whether she is conducting research, speaking publicly, working in communications, writing or facilitating women's empowerment sessions, Makotanyane keeps returning to the same belief: conversation can create a doorway to healing.

Not every conversation will change a life.

But the right conversation, in the right space, with the right people listening, can.

And perhaps that is where real change begins, not always with a big campaign or a headline, but with one woman finally feeling safe enough to say, this happened to me, and knowing that someone is willing to listen.

For Mmabatho Makotanyane, creating those spaces is more than professional work.

It is part of the change she wants to see.