Bathini Mbatha

Born, raised, and educated in Orlando East, Soweto, in Gauteng, Bathini Mbatha pursued studies in photography at the Market Photo Workshop, cementing the foundation of a career in visual storytelling.

From 1999 to 2011, Mbatha worked as a photojournalist for major South African media houses. His photographs appeared in publications including The Star, Sunday Independent, Saturday Star, Isolezwe, Daily News, Ilanga, Sunday Sun, City Press, Daily Sun, Sowetan, Pretoria News and Mail & Guardian and he contributed to international media, notably The Times Magazine.

Following his years in journalism, Mbatha morphed into public service, where his last formal employment was as a communications officer at the Gert Sibande District Municipality in Mpumalanga. Life challenges later forced Mbatha as a developing entrepreneur to focus on his spiritual calling as a traditional healer. Drawing on his strong media background, he launched a highly successful YouTube channel, @dr.gogobathinimbatha, through which he shares cultural, spiritual and social content.  This platform has grown to an impressive 170,000 subscribers and has recorded over 20 million views worldwide, garnering him wide recognition as Gogo Bathini Mbatha.

In addition to his spiritual work, Mbatha is actively involved in firearm sport shooting. What began as a hobby has since developed into a dedicated sport and advocacy platform promoting legal, responsible, and safe firearm ownership in South Africa. Bathini recently launched a second YouTube channel, @KeyToDefendTV, aimed at educating firearm owners on the importance of regular training and providing updates on firearm-related laws and developments.

In the scope of his advocacy for community safety in South Africa he has joined the Management Board of Safe Citizen, playing a vital role in public outreach and education.