Hlulani Masingi, also known as Hlulz; is a young, vibrant and witty black South African woman with a solid education and seven years media experience. She graduated at the University of the Witwatersrand with a Bachelors Degree in Media Studies, English Literature and Honours Degree in Media Studies. She is currently pursuing her Masters Degree in African Languages and Linguistics in the Media at the same institution.
Born in Johannesburg and raised at ka-Mhinga – Malamulele, an underprivileged village in Limpopo. Hlulani is a determined individual and regardless of her impoverished background, she has a variety of interests that include PR, Communications, Marketing, Events and Creative Writing. She has always had a strong thirst for knowledge and could already write the word “mother” in her home language at the age of four. She started her first year of varsity at the age of 16.
After working as an Online Editor from 2014 until 2017; she founded Shangazine – an online title focused on celebrating Tsonga people’s traditional and contemporary lifestyle. It was founded by Hlulani Masingi in 2016 as a Facebook Page, today Shangazine is a brand new online lifestyle magazine that aims to celebrate Xitsonga as a world-class culture. It gathers inspiration from Xitsonga people and spreads it across the globe in an attempt to promote the cultural group’s contemporary and traditional way of living. It shares the tribe’s magnificent regalia and lifestyle, inspiring articles and rich yet fun content that is encouraging and exceptional about Xitsonga people. With its name being derived from the words “Shangaan” and “Magazine”.
Shangazine’s vision is to take back the word “Shangaan” which has been used to degrade many Xitsonga people in South Africa and celebrate it positively. Hlulani says the magazine will help reclaim and give new meaning to the word “Shangaan”, which in the past made Xitsonga people “feel as if their existence in South Africa was unworthy”.
“Xitsonga speaking people still feel they lack representation in the media. This has caused some people of this tribe to completely alter who they are instead of celebrating their national identities as South Africans. Therefore, Shangazine aims to encourage Xitsonga speaking people to be bold in celebrating their everyday way of living, which includes the colourful regalia, music, language and culture with the rest of the world without any fear,” says Hlulani.
Non-Xitsonga speakers will be able to learn about Xitsonga culture from the magazine, while also tapping into universal and modern lifestyle trends such as beauty, fashion, health, entertainment and travel.
