Storytelling can change a young person’s life

Head of Research at Heartlines, Livhuwani Maphorogo, convened a workshop for authors contributing to an upcoming Heartlines publication on interdisciplinary perspectives on fatherhood, masculinity and youth in South Africa.

We are very sure about fatherlessness, and that's a problem. Themba Dlamini shares how one radio conversation exposed a national blind spot about faterhood in South Africa. 

In many communities, the dominant image of manhood remains physical – protect, provide, endure, fight. These instincts are not inherently wrong. But they are incomplete.

Before he was Dr Mzamo Masito, a respected author and advocate for young boys and men, he was just another child trying to survive in the townships of the Western Cape while struggling with his own ‘father wound’. A wound that he would have to confront as he got older.

The world teenagers are navigating often looks nothing like the one their parents grew up in. Youth leaders who walk closely with teenagers every week see this shift clearly and believe parents need to understand the realities shaping teenage relationships today.

On 29 October 2025, Heartlines, in partnership with the University of the Witwatersrand School of Governance hosted the Rethinking Fatherhood, Gender, and Masculinity in South Africa symposium.