Jambo Africa Online’s Publisher, Saul Molobi, himself an author of an inspirational book, “Sound and Fury: The Chronicles of Healing,” gives us a glimpse into the life of a conquering soul who plans to whisper words of wisdom and triumph to help others build resilience to overcome the challenges of life throws at them…
The name Shante has its roots in Old French and Hindi and it means “God’s grace; stone; peaceful”. It is also a variation of Shantelle (Old French) and it means “Stony, place of stones” and “Song”. Its origin is “Modern English variant of the French name Chantal”. Chantelle is a form of Chantal and its variants are Chantall, Chantel, Chantelle. Candace is derived from a Greek word which “glowing.”
All the above-given metaphors are characteristic of Shante Nandi Pretorius – they are a true symbolism of her life. Blessed by the grace of God, her beauty glows, her resilience, tenacity and will to survive are stony – meaning austere and rigorous! !! Listening to her eloquently relating her journey that evokes all manner of contradictory emotions – sweet yet chilling; glowing yet nervy; triumphant yet triumphant yet petrifying; dazzling yet darkening one’s soul; but above all else, it boils down to one adjective: inspirational. Perhaps, going back to the opening metaphors, the jazz maestro, Abdullah Ibrahim, summed up her life when he mused: “The song is my story.”
Shante plans to formalise her role as a reservoir of inspiration through a soon-to-be launched platform of a series of podcasts, aptly titled: “The Real Deal with Chants”. She developed her vision and passion to create awareness, to inspire and motivate both youth and adults with disabilities to battle to live the best possible life even if they cannot fathom the depth of the difficult circumstances they are facing and to reach for their dreams.
“This platform is a Podcast show that will deliver the real deal, information, content and life lessons, news, reviews, and inspirational real deal events,” says the sassy Shante oozing with unparalleled confidence.
Shante is the full embodiment of the war cry chanted by the advocates of mainstreaming issues affecting people with disabilities: “Nothing about us, without us”. Armed with a lifetime of experience of living with a physical disability, she has resolved to intensify the struggle for the betterment of the lives of people with disabilities. “For me it’s about making a difference in our people’s lives by inspiring them not to lose hope, fire them with insatiable doses of energy to fight against all odds to better their lives, and to advocate for inclusion in every aspects of life. No decision should be taken anywhere about us without our participation. We have to take full control of our lives.”
What has her journey been like for the past a 26? “At the age of seven I was Misdiagnosed with SLE (Lupus) by a dermatologist after testing a wart she saw on my finger,” she says with a lunge of frustration. “During that period, I was in and out of hospital, suffering an occasional bout of uncontrollable high fevers. By this time, my physical challenges had begun and I was already in crutches. What’s worse, I was already developing a poor vision – and, between 2009 and 2011, I lost my vision completely. Over this period, I lost my vision three times. Fortunately, it was slowly restored halfway by Plasma Exchange and Cortisone.
“Though my sight was restored, the journey still remained characterised by pain, despair and agony. My life had become a journey of constant visits to hospitals and surgeries. Right now, my memory fails me to remember the amount of different medical institutions I have been too. They were countless and yet they couldn’t help.
“Once again, I lost my vision, but not completely. But the unexpected happened and it was highly traumatic when I then lost my speech – I was left dumbfounded when I found myself without any verbal means of communication. I couldn’t talk, my movement was limited, and my eyesight almost gone, I had a near death experience with high fever, those were my darkest days.
“Death was knocking on my door, and my life seemed so bleak, my blurred vision and loss of speech and being confined to a wheelchair, hope seemed to have passed me by, but I held on to my faith. This was a scary time for me.”
Imagine this young lass having to go through these trials and tribulations. She says she’s eternally indebted to Prof Modi who was there for her throughout this difficult journey. “I’ll My faith was tested once again and this time in the USA. I was in Baltimore Maryland at the John Hopkins hospital where I had a terrible lapse. I had no alternative but to fight for my recovery.”
But the reason for flying all the way to the USA kind of paid off. “It was here in the that a proper diagnosis was made – Neuromyelitis optica (NMO), also known as Devic’s disease.”
The NMO is described as a rare condition where the immune system damages the spinal cord and the nerves of the eyes (optic nerves). Nobody is immune to it as it can affect anyone at any age and research has indicated that it’s more common in women than men.
Now only at 26, Shante has spent the last ten years using a wheelchair. “I last walked at 16 with the aid of crutches. My journey has been one of pain, grief but never despair,” she says matter-of-factly, “and I have pulled on whatever faith I have for my survival. The immense and effortless love, selfless support and patience from my family and friends have helped me adopt a positive attitude to life in which I make the most out of every situation, use every bit of positive energy and draw on my inner strength to live as normal life as possible. This is my journey, my real deal, and my time to be real, welcome to my Story: THE REAL DEAL WITH CHANTS.
It will focus on using a digital platform hosting a series of podcasts to share Chant’s story. Its content will focus on growing the awareness and the corporate brand to archive the vision and mission of THE REAL DEAL WITH CHANTS. To encourage the community, people with disabilities, social or physical living challenges while building awareness and stimulating conversations and interactions with the community and the audience – both locally and internationally to ensure that THE REAL DEAL WITH CHANTS objectives are met.
This is a ground-breaking initiative that deserves support from all the societal sectors. For more information, visit