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In a heartfelt Mother’s Day letter to single mothers, Pastor and author Themba Dlamini shares a powerful message of hope, healing and intentional parenting. Drawing from his own experience of growing up without a present father, Dlamini encourages mothers raising sons to lead with love, emotional guidance and accountability. 

In a country grappling with high levels of violence - particularly gender-based violence - Pastor and author Themba Dlamini says parents need to learn how to name boys’ anger rather than simply punish it. His argument is that many boys are not taught the emotional language to understand feelings like anger, shame, hurt, or rejection, which can later surface as aggression or violence if left unaddressed.

A Johannesburg pastor, chartered accountant and author nearly lost his life in a hijacking, and the thing that stayed with him most was not the gun. It was how young the men were. Themba Dlamini, who wrote Village Boy: A Memoir of Fatherlessness, spent his recovery asking one question he could not shake.

In a society grappling with violence, nurturing the next generation through the active involvement of fathers and father figures can ensure that children grow up in environments where love, respect, and healthy expressions of strength prevail.

In a society grappling with violence, nurturing the next generation through the active involvement of fathers and father figures can ensure that children grow up in environments where love, respect, and healthy expressions of strength prevail.

When Themba Dlamini survived a hijacking, it wasn’t the violence itself that stayed with him longest. It was how young the perpetrators were.

“Young enough to be my classmates. Young enough to still be someone’s sons,” says Dlamini, a husband, father of four, pastor, chartered accountant, and author of Village Boy: A Memoir of Fatherlessness. “And the question that has stayed with me ever since is: where were their fathers?”

This piece explores how children who do not have a positively present father are negatively affected in various ways, from feelings of abandonment and low self-esteem to being more likely to engage in risky behaviours, such as substance abuse or gangsterism.

Pastor and author Themba Dlamini says that violence isn't just an event, it develops over time. 

Pastor and author Themba Dlamini argues that violence in South Africa is shaped long before it happens - in childhood, not just at the point of crime.

Author of Village Boy: A Memoir of Fatherlessness, pastor and father of four, Themba Dlamini spoke on Gagasi FM about how social father are essential in shaping non-violent behaviour. 

Author of Village Boy: A Memoir of Fatherlessness, pastor and father of four, Themba Dlamini spoke on Gagasi FM about how social father are essential in shaping non-violent behaviour.