By Kemiso Wessie
With a career spanning over two decades, Dr. Nompumelelo Gumede has been at the forefront of health communication in Eastern and Southern Africa. A scholar-practitioner who seamlessly straddles the worlds of academia and applied social and behaviour change (SBC) work, she is known for her unwavering commitment to participatory, culturally rooted, and evidence-based health interventions. Whether working with international NGOs, UN agencies, or mentoring students at the postgraduate level, Gumede’s passion lies in making research work to impact the real world positively.
“I thrive on translating complex health challenges into impactful, sustainable solutions,” says Gumede, who holds a PhD in Health Communication and currently lectures and supervises students while engaging in research that tackles pressing issues around presidential public health, art-based research methods in health communication and youth-led interventions.
Her career has been shaped by a fundamental belief: that top-down, one-way health messaging in Africa often fails to resonate or result in meaningful behavioural change.
This insight took root early in her professional life, when she joined a participatory communication project on HIV and AIDS at the University of Zululand. “What became apparent in the early years of the HIV and AIDS response in South Africa was the futility of top-down, one-way approaches to health communication,” she explains. “It became clear that we needed to foreground community voices in the AIDS response and to consider the socio-cultural context.”
Born and raised in Durban, South Africa, Gumede is proudly rooted in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. She completed all her academic training at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where her commitment to community-led approaches to public health began to crystallise. From her base on the coast, she now works with a range of organisations and academic collaborators across the continent, developing interventions that empower adolescent girls, young women, and underserved populations.
In the classroom, Gumede encourages students to do the same. “I believe staying [as] close as possible to current issues in the real world helps my students apply what they learn,” she says. Her teaching is grounded in case studies and contemporary debates, allowing future researchers and practitioners to critically engage with the evolving challenges in the field of health communication.
Currently, Gumede is exploring university students’ perceptions of digital communication for mental health. She is also working on a book chapter on the concept of Ubuntu in pandemic communication, due for publication in the coming months. Additionally, she recently completed a regional policy brief on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in collaboration with several UN bodies.
Despite her demanding schedule, Gumede maintains a strong sense of balance. She swims, hikes, and enjoys early morning walks by the beach, a benefit of living on the coast. Travel is another passion, one that dovetails with her work. Still, she admits that the long flights can be draining. If she could have one superpower, it would be to blink and instantly be in another part of the world.
Gumede is also an ardent admirer of women who have pushed boundaries and inspired change across the globe. If given the chance to host a dream dinner, her table would include Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, literary theorist, feminist critic and author of Can the Subaltern Speak?, Graça Machel, founder of the Graça Machel Trust, and UNAIDS Director Winnie Byanyima. “I think the conversation would be both intellectually stimulating and fun,” she says. “There’s so much wisdom and life experience they have that I think I would learn from.”
Asked to describe herself in three words, Gumede replies: “Determined, resilient, and an optimist.” These qualities are evident in every facet of her work, from the rigour of her scholarship to the compassion she brings to community engagement. She is not only a leader in health communication but also a role model for how to blend academic excellence with meaningful social change.