Sanelisiwe Yekani

Sanelisiwe Yekani is a South African performer, writer and researcher whose interdisciplinary practice explores the relationship between lived experience, culture, social justice and collective memory. She holds an Honours degree in Performance and Television Studies from Wits University and has lectured in Theatre & Production and Performance Practice at Wits University (2020–2025). Yekani has facilitated theatre and performance workshops with universities, arts organisations and advocacy initiatives, including programmes engaging marginalised voices in climate change and social justice discourse. She is the co-writer and co-performer of Burning Rebellion, a climate protest poem and film addressing environmental and social injustice in South Africa. Her broader creative practice spans performance, poetry, theatre, film and music, with storytelling serving as a means of documenting lived experience, generating dialogue and imagining more just futures. She was also selected as one of the Top 30 African storytellers and a laureate of the KESSA programme in 2026.