YouTube Black amplifying voices of African creators
Capetonian Sinikiwe Kademaunga was born without hands and deformed legs and she shares her life on her popular YouTube channel.
Kademaunga is among 40 content creators who have been chosen for YouTube Black, a programme created in 2020 to uplift and grow creators from the African continent. The the 2023 cohort.
She said said making it onto the programme validated her hard work.
“I feel very proud of myself and the platform I have created. I feel motivated to inspire people to live their lives unapologetically,” she said.
Kademaunga was born with amniotic band syndrome, which affects one in every 15 000 children worldwide who are either born with deformed or no limbs.
She is a social worker who started creating content five years ago and has 24 000 subscribers on her YouTube channel.
Kademaunga’s channel is dedicated to showing viewers how she navigates life as a person with a disability.
“I often get asked questions about how I handle my day-to-day tasks. I decided to start a channel where I answer all those questions and show people how I live my life,” she said.
“Growing up, having a disability was viewed negatively and shamefully, so I wanted to show the world that I could still lead a lovely life.”
Another YouTube channel named Defining was part of this years YouTube Black cohort. The channel is run by Dennis Ngango, Nomathamsanqa Plaatjie and Bongani Baloyi.
Defining started as Ngango’s channel named Defining Dennis, on his journey of self-discovery in 2015, but changed its name four years later has 189 000 subscribers.
The channel’s content focuses on Africa and African stories through conversations about how people seek meaning, connection, love, truth, freedom and purpose.
Baloyi said being part of the 2022 cohort was a big achievement for the team.
“It’s difficult to find spaces where you are appreciated and celebrated as a collective. I love that people can see that this is real, and you can create a career out of it,” he said.
“It affirmed that we are part of the stories on the continent. We are grateful for the access we had to YouTube directly.
“It was as if we were studying at the university of YouTube, and I feel like we’ve just graduated.”
Ngango said the opportunity meant being surrounded by people that form part of this incredible community.
“Our class only had 102 people from the continent and something about being in that room just shifts you.”
Jenay Aaron is a 20-year-old YouTuber from Cape Town who has managed to grow her following and monetise it on the platform.
Aaron’s channel is named Mary Jem and offers viewers tarot readings.
“I started with playing cards and then moved on to the tarot deck. I later took time to learn the meanings of each card to interpret it,” she said.
Although she is from Cape Town, Aaron said her entire audience is from overseas.
“I got an incredible response that in so many ways confirmed the value of the content I create.”
The Mary Jem channel is a few subscribers short of the 10 000 mark and she was able to start monetising her content towards the end of her second year.
“I can make anywhere from R3 000 up to R5 000 for the month. You get paid per advert that is placed in your video. If you want more money, you can place more ads,” she said.
“I also earn money off personal readings that people book from having watched my videos.”
She recently attempted to get a normal 9-to-5 job but decided against it when she realised YouTube brought in more income for less effort.
“I understand that income from YouTube is not as consistent. But I can make a video in a quarter of the time it takes to work a shift,” she said.