5 days ago
Nthabiseng Mathole – Recipe for FoodTok success
Whiffs of lamb meatballs and gnocchi pasta smothered in a creamy tomato base permeate the kitchen as Nthabiseng Mathole lifts the lid to reveal the delicious dish.
What follows is pure magic, with Mathole's culinary pizzazz becoming the linchpin as she takes SMag editor-in-chief Emmanuel Tjiya through three delicious pasta dishes she has prepared for a FoodTok video series.
A week earlier, I met the pint-sized 33-year-old digital-content creator and homemaker on the set of her debut magazine cover shoot at Glow Hire studio in Riviera, Joburg.
Mathole's soft-glam makeup is instantly energised with a fierce cat eye, sleeked-back hair, and teased ponytail, accentuating her high cheekbones and natural beauty. 'I was telling Bomzi [hairstylist Ntombomzi Lekgoro] that it dawned on me what I'm doing today on my drive to the studio.
It's a huge opportunity and something that I never would have dreamed up for myself. I'm super grateful,' she says, getting teary-eyed. Her career in content creation kicked into high gear in 2021 when she resigned from a lucrative corporate career. 'I worked in risk management for 10 years until 2021, when I decided I wanted to go into content creation full-time. It wasn't easy coming to that decision and I didn't take it lightly,' she says.
'I'm a spiritual person and God told me it was time to leave my corporate job, as He had an assignment for me to fulfil. God even told me the date I needed to leave my job, which was 4 November. So, on that day, I handed in my resignation. I don't have any full-time job waiting for me but I'm just trusting God's voice. My husband knew I wasn't happy at my job anymore and [that I wanted to] go into content creation. Fortunately, he's also a believer and was supportive. He said he took my word for it because he knows me as somebody who has a good head on their shoulders.'
Mathole's viral homemaker Instagram page, Dipitsa Stofong (loosely translating to 'pots on the stove' in Sesotho), is the 'Tradwife' tagline for her Sunday cooking videos.
'Growing up, I used to wake up on Sunday mornings to the smell of Sunday seven colours on the stove,' she says. 'My mom would be cooking and playing gospel music, and we would be getting ready to go to church. This is a tradition I want to keep for my family and found myself sharing that with my followers on my account. It soon began to gain traction and people just hopped on every Sunday. I would say, 'Ladies, wake up. Let's put the pots on the stove' and people just started doing it. I would get DMs of dishes people made with the hashtag Dipitsa Stofong, and that's what inspired the name.'
