Team

Sandile Masondo has risen above many struggles in his life to emerge as a young man of great integrity, compassion and boundless energy who is committed to making a positive difference wherever he can. The way he lives provides other young people with a much-needed role model. He is wise beyond his years and has an unquenchable thirst for learning together with a deep commitment to social and environmental justice. Sandile was one of only two young people selected to climb Kilimanjaro for Rhino SA. He knew Dr Ian Player ​well - ​the famous conservationist, credited with saving the White Rhino from extinction in the 1960s. Sandile is proudly Zulu, and his love of the Zulu language and culture motivated him to walk 3500​kms a couple of years ago to promote the Zulu language and culture. While on his epic walk, Sandile noticed numerous water leaks in the communities he visited in KZN. This inspired him to make his first video, which featured water leaks in KwaMevane and Siphomele. It was shown at the Howick Seed Film Festival in 2014. Sandile ensures each Zulu Trail is a unique and unforgettable experience for the trailists, as well as being an enriching and rewarding experience for the families, homesteads and communities hosting the trail.

Sipho’s love for nature and plants started while he was still at school. In the afternoons and over weekends and holidays he worked at a local nursery in Howick. When he left school, he was employed by the Dusi-uMngeni Conservation Trust (DUCT) in their alien clearing programme along the banks of streams and rivers. When Beacon Hill, in Howick, a 40ha gem of mist-belt grassland that supports many critically endangered plants, was needing to be cleared of invasive aliens, Sipho was the obvious choice. Hannes got to know Sipho while he was working on Beacon Hill and hand-picked him to assist Sandile with the first Zulu Trail. After Sipho helped Sandile lead the trail, the students decided that ‘every trail needs a Sipho’. When you go on a Zulu Trail we are sure you will agree!!

Sheila Berry has been associated with the Zulu Trail since Hannes Zollner expressed interest in its revival in 2013. Sheila has a strong interest in the natural environment, youth, and walking trails that dates back to the early 1980s when she did her Master’s degree focussing on the therapeutic use of Wilderness. She worked with young people at risk of becoming involved in crime and also with traumatized youth raised in violent townships. The opportunity to experience the peace and healing of nature was invariably a powerfully transformative experience for these young people. Sheila has also worked with many different cultures in Africa through her work with the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee in 1994 to 2004 and as the current Director of EarthLore. Sheila is a trustee of the Ian Player Magqubu Ntombela Memorial Trust and the Global Environmental Trust. She is a champion of wilderness and an environmental activist. In addition to her involvement with the Zulu Trails, she is currently spearheading the Save Our iMfolozi Wilderness campaign and is spokesperson for the iMfolozi Communities and Wilderness Alliance (ICWA) opposing coal mining on the boundary of the historic iMfolozi Wilderness Area in KwaZulu-Natal.