Meet Mzansi’s top content creators inspiring change and promoting sustainability
In a digital world full of influencers, there are those content creators who dare to make a difference in their communities.
Using their influence and resources, these content creators understand that “influencing” goes beyond partnering with brands to sell a certain product to their followers.
Instead, they shape the world around them by either giving back to the community or teaching them about sustainability.
Below is a list of our favourite content creators who use their impact to make a real difference in the world.
Siphelele “Popi” Sibiya
Popi is a South African content creator whose Instagram channel, “The Popi Show”, is more than a travel vlog.
Popi, who is currently documenting season four of “The Popi Show”, showcasing the Latin America Bundu Bash, travels the world to raise awareness for disadvantaged communities.
“In 2020, I quit my job to travel the world. In 2023, I completed my mission of travelling from South Africa to Ghana by road.
“This year, I invite you to join me as I embark on an exciting exploration of the world’s cultures, traditions, cuisine, and majestic landscapes across Asia, The Middle East, Africa, and Latin America,” she said on her website.
Unlike most content creators, Popi doesn’t sell luxury, she sells eco-tourism. That is why for her travels she hardly stays in hotels and opts to stay with a family in some village or forest to learn more about the culture and the people.
She also does community work where she finds a job during her stay that doesn’t involve monetary payments. To fund her travels, she uses money from her “close friends” subscriptions on Instagram, where subscribers get the full gist.
“Your contributions to my travel fund will help cover essential travel expenses, allowing me to focus on capturing and sharing the rich tapestries of human life. Together, we can push boundaries and uncover the wonders of the universe.
“Support my journey and be part of this incredible adventure,” she said.
Abir El Saghir
The Lebanese celebrity chef and social media influencer with over 22 million followers on TikTok is more than a pretty woman who knows her way around the kitchen.
Her content is based on her cooking scrumptious meals for disadvantaged people, including children. Using donations from her followers, El Saghir can feed as many people for 50 days straight.
For her 26th birthday, she raised awareness around the conflict in Palestine and Lebanon.
“Nobody can stop this? Or is it that nobody wants to stop this? A year has passed since the war on Gaza, nothing has changed except that they have increased their aggression. Attacking Gaza, occupied Palestine and now Lebanon,” she said.
“Starting my 26 with a war on my country. A war on my people … how many more innocent people to murder? My homeland, I’m so sorry … My wish for this year is just to be safe with my family, my people, my village and my beautiful country, pray for us, all of us,” she wrote.
Onezwa Mbola
Mbola exemplifies slow living for the affluent. The Eastern Cape-based cook is one of the best content creators who will make you envy village life.
Her content is based on cooking food that she has planted, raised or foraged.
As the owner of “Mandulo”, a brand that produces locally made foods, including salt, spices, jam and sauces, Mbola is committed to teaching her followers about sustainable farming and consuming less processed food.
Auri Katariina
Known as the best cleaner in the world, Katariina does more than cleaning, she gives people hope.
With over 11 million followers on Tiktok, Katariina understands that depressed people often struggle to clean up for themselves, which results in their homes being extremely dirty.
To give them a second chance in life, she cleans their houses for free. Some of the houses have not been cleaned for five years but she makes sure that by the time she is done, the houses are spotless.
Katariina has also launched her cleaning merchandise brand to help fund her travel costs to help people who are away from her state.
In May, she won the Top Influencer award at the Tubecon Awards for the work that she does.
“Mental health and cleaning are universal and important topics! ❤️ I took my grandma on stage because she has taught me how fun cleaning can be but also that mental health issues shouldn’t be feared!
“She has worked in a mental hospital for over 40 years as a nurse and has taught me a lot about life,“ she wrote on Instagram.
Paballo Noko
She got off on the wrong foot and would trend for the wrong reasons but Noko has managed to redeem herself.
The 17-year-old Limpopo content creator with almost 800 thousand followers on Instagram has stopped hanging out with the wrong crowd and now uses her influence to help young girls with care packages.
She partnered with the Rich Hobbo Foundation to donate sanitary pads to Grade 8 and 9 students every year.
That is something commendable for someone her age, especially in a country where one in four girl learners misses school monthly because of a lack of access to menstrual hygiene products and support during their menstrual periods.
