Good Things with Brent Lindeque 📺

Hope, new life and growth... can owning a plant change the lives of children, their families and their communities? Ultimately shaping societies? Zonja Penzhorn thinks so, and she has proof too, and this week we have her on the poddie! 

On this week’s episode of “Good Things with Brent Lindeque”, we sit down with Zonja, the founder and CEO of Human Nature Africa, whose work focuses on prevention at the intersection of human behaviour, addressing gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV and mental health. It’s a conversation that digs into what many children are carrying long before they have the tools to process it, and how that shapes not just individual lives, but entire communities.

"What’s often mistaken for coping is simply survival," Zonja explains, unpacking how fear, anger and sadness are often suppressed rather than understood, and how those early experiences can later show up in the way people engage with the world around them.

Through Human Nature Africa’s Plant Play programme, children are given the opportunity to grow a hyacinth, a flower chosen with intention. It carries no pressure to provide, no expectation beyond care and curiosity and yet it opens something up that many of these children have not experienced in a long time.

"If the bulb is cut open, the flower is already inside," Zonja shares, a simple but powerful way of showing that the potential is already there.

And she says, there is proof that owning a plant, sometimes the only thing these kids have ever owned, changes everything.

"They became gentle. They became children again. They began to play."

What started as a small pilot in Diepsloot has already shown how something as simple as a plant can create space for expression, connection and healing. Children begin to open up, to support one another, to find their voices, and in doing so, start shaping a different kind of future for themselves and those around them.

The full conversation is below, and it’s one that leaves you thinking a little differently about change… how it starts, where it grows, and how something small, when done right, can ripple far beyond what we expect.

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We talk a lot about changing narratives... and this week’s podcast does exactly that.

In the latest episode of 'Good Things with Brent Lindeque', Tebogo Mabye, or Tebza as he prefers to be called, sits down for a conversation that feels like an invitation into his world. It’s honest, and layered, and it’s deeply rooted in Hillbrow… a place he still calls home and one that continues to shape everything he does.

Tebza’s journey didn’t start with opportunity laid out in front of him. Growing up in Hillbrow, he faced real challenges, including time spent in shelters, navigating an environment that demanded strength from a young age. But what comes through so clearly in our conversation is not the difficulty, it’s the perspective he’s chosen to carry forward. He speaks about his upbringing with pride, about the people who shaped him and about the belief that where you come from can be the very thing that drives you forward.

That belief turned into action when he launched Hillbrewed Coffee Co., a business he built without formal training, relying on instinct, curiosity and a deep desire to create something meaningful in his community. The coffee shop became a space that created opportunities for others and showed that something special could exist right in the heart of the inner city. Even after losing it during COVID, Tebza didn’t step away from the dream, he evolved it, leaning further into food and the passion that had always been part of his story. That passion would take him onto MasterChef South Africa, where he brought his self-taught skills and personal story into kitchens watched by the entire country. But that was never the final destination. Tebza has continued to grow, stepping into modelling, pursuing sport as a kickboxer and building a life that reflects every part of who he is.

Today, he is also part of Jozi My Jozi, where he leads a Walking Tour, guiding people through Hillbrow in a way that challenges perceptions and opens eyes. It’s not about painting a perfect picture, it’s about showing the real one… the culture, the energy, the people and the stories that often go unseen.

If you’ve ever needed a reason to believe in the good things again, this poddie will give you that... and so much more.

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We don’t really need to introduce Kurt Darren in South Africa. His music has been part of our lives for decades, whether you realise it or not. But this week on “Good Things with Brent Lindeque”, we got to sit down with the man behind the hits and talk about the journey that brought him here.

Music has a way of bringing people together and Kurt has been doing exactly that for years. From the middle of the 90s, when he first started making waves, to becoming one of the most recognisable names in Afrikaans pop, he has built a career on connection, energy and songs that people carry with them long after the music stops playing. His tracks have become staples at celebrations, road trips and everything in between, creating shared moments that feel uniquely South African.

In studio, the conversation moved through the different chapters of his career, from those early days trying to find his sound, to the big stages and defining milestones that followed. Kurt spoke openly about the highlights that have shaped him, the lessons learned along the way, and the gratitude he still carries for being able to do what he loves for so long. There’s a groundedness to him that makes it clear this journey has never been taken for granted. Of course, we also spoke about what’s new, and that’s where his latest track, "6 7", comes in. The nostalgic, feel-good anthem is already sparking mixed reactions online, which, in many ways, is part of what makes it so interesting. People are talking, sharing, creating, and engaging with it in their own ways, especially as snippets of the song start finding their way into videos across social media.

Kurt shared just how much he’s been enjoying that response, saying, “I’ve loved the reception so far… seeing people use the teaser in their videos and make it their own has been incredible.”

He explained that at its core, 6 7 is about rediscovering youthful joy. It’s about letting go, being present and remembering what it feels like to enjoy something without overthinking it. In a time where life can feel heavy and fast, the new track offers a small but meaningful reminder to come back to that lighter side, the one that laughs a little louder and dances a little longer.

What an honour to have had Kurt in studio. There’s something special about someone who never loses sight of why they started. Kurt has held onto that love for music through every season of his life, and in doing so, he’s given so many of us a soundtrack to ours.

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📆 New episodes drop weekly.

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This week’s episode of 'Good Things with Brent Lindeque' is honest, raw and filled with hope.

I got to sit down with Joe Fleming… a man whose journey across South Africa has been anything but ordinary, and whose purpose today is rooted in helping others find their way back to themselves.

Joe is the founder of Recharge, a men’s mental health walking community creating space for connection, conversation and healing across South Africa. He’s also the storyteller behind Here in South Africa and the owner of Bonafide Moto Co, hosting off-road motorcycle adventures since 2016. A US military veteran, Joe served in Iraq before stepping into corporate life back in the States… but love brought him to South Africa more than a decade ago, a decision that completely reshaped how he sees life, purpose and where he belongs. Over the past 13 years, he’s travelled the country documenting its beauty, its people and its stories… but somewhere along the way, the story he was really learning to understand was his own.

Joe speaks openly about a time when he found himself in what he describes as a “dark place”, a moment where everything felt overwhelming and the future felt impossibly far away. He shares how he reached a point where he tried to take his own life… and how, in that final moment, something intervened.

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📆 New episodes drop weekly.

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❤️ Stories that matter. Conversations that count. All about South Africa's Good News Podcast! ❤️🇿🇦

In the lead-up to World TB Day (on the 24th of March), I sat down with Doctor Anura David, Senior Medical Scientist at the Wits Diagnostics Innovation Hub, for a podcast that puts people, progress and possibility at the centre of South Africa’s fight against tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) can feel like a distant topic for many, something that lives in statistics rather than everyday life, but this conversation changes that. It breaks things down in a way that is human, accessible and, most importantly, hopeful.

“South Africa has already made incredible progress in reducing TB,” Anura shares. “The next step is making testing easier, treatment shorter and care more accessible so that we can reach more people, faster.”

That progress is real. Since 2015, South Africa has reduced its TB incidence rate by 61%, a shift that speaks to the work being done across communities, clinics and laboratories. But what makes this moment exciting is what comes next.

In the episode, we unpack the innovations already on the horizon… from potential vaccines to a simple tongue swab test that could make diagnosis far less invasive, as well as shorter treatment options that could change how patients experience recovery.

“We are seeing technologies emerge that could completely shift how we detect and treat TB,” she explains. “The goal is to remove barriers so that people can get diagnosed early and start treatment quickly.”

This week’s podcast is not about overwhelming you with science, it is about showing how South African expertise is shaping real solutions with global impact and how those solutions translate into better care, earlier diagnoses and more lives changed.

🎧 Watch and listen to the episode on all our social platforms (like all of them).

📆 New episodes drop weekly.

🏡 Powered by BetterBond. Filmed at Primedia Studios.

❤️ Stories that matter. Conversations that count. All about South Africa's Good News Podcast! ❤️🇿🇦