Young Mandelas 2025 | From loss to light: How yoga transformed Savanna Sibutha&#x2019s life

Jul 19, 2025 Sport views: 228

Savanna Sibutha is a project manager and yoga instructor at Stretch Education SA.

Rosetta Msimango

Name: Savanna SibuthaCategory: Mental HealthAge: 25Location: Johannesburg,GautengSavanna Sibutha has spent the last nine years practising yoga,a discipline that “saved me in high school”,she told News24.

She was introduced to the art form in Grade 11 in 2016,and it changed her life trajectory. Through yoga,she found peace and purpose.

Sibutha had a challenging upbringing. After her mother died,she was raised by her older sisters.

ADVERTISEMENT

Her mother’s death left not only an emotional wound but an administrative one.

“I’ve never known my mom,and because of that,I struggled getting documentation. It took me four years after high school to get an ID.”

The lack of documentation pushed her into an anxiety spiral. What would not having an ID mean for her future? Would this hinder her university prospects? What about employment?

However,a lifeline came in the form of breathwork,mantras,and meditation. “I think yoga is who I am.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Today,she is a certified kundalini yoga instructor and tutor. Having grown up in one of South Africa’s poorest suburbs - Alexandra in Gauteng - she’s dedicated her life to giving back to her community.

Sibutha is a project manager and yoga instructor at Stretch Education SA. She teaches yoga in high schools,English in primary schools,and runs afternoon programmes.

“It gives me great joy because I’m able to go back to the kids in high school [...] And I’m able to just hold their hand and say,this is what you know now,but there’s more to life”.

To get in touch with Savanna directly,contact her on [email protected].

Go back to Young Mandelas 2025.

Login

Register

Contribute

United News delivers authoritative global news with African and global insights. Breaking coverage on politics, human rights, environmental crises and social justice. Trusted journalism from Johannesburg to the world.

Politics & Conflicts

Business

Environment

Rights & Justice

United News - unews.co.za