Dedicated to diabetes: Lindie Motsoane

Lindie Motsoane is a passionate diabetes advocate who has has been living with Type 2 diabetes since 2008. We ask her why she’s dedicated to diabetes…

A passion for diabetes advocacy

Lindie is a 49-year-old mother of three, studying to become a Social Auxiliary Worker while doing her practical with the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (SANCA), and she is involved in her local church as a dedicated volunteer.

In 2024, Lindie was diagnosed with Scleroderma (a group of rare, chronic autoimmune diseases), but she still continues to build community and spread awareness. She has worked as an advocate for diabetes, supporting and assisting people with newly diagnosed diabetes to successfully manage their condition, as well as educating and creating awareness with their family members and support structures around them.

What’s the one thing you wish you’d known when you were diagnosed with diabetes?

One thing I wish I knew when I was diagnosed was the mental toll that came with living with diabetes. That I would need to possess both mental and psychological stamina as this condition requires me to be present in my own life and be alert 24/7.

Why did you become a diabetes advocate?

My grandmother passed away when she was about to have an amputation caused by diabetes neuropathy. My father then passed away at the tender age of 49, due to diabetes complications. So when I was diagnosed, I was frightened at the prospect of being severely ill or even dying.

In my community and family, there was not enough education about diabetes, let alone information about the management aspect of diabetes.

I then resolved to educate myself about diabetes and its implications. My late grandmother and father passed away not having received the knowledge I now possess. I wondered how many people die every day – not because they have diabetes, but because their diabetes is badly managed due to a lack of information, education and access to resources. 

I decided to become a diabetes advocate to educate people in my community and create awareness about the challenges around diabetes, as well as how to successfully manage diabetes and live a full life.

Have you faced any diabetes stigma?

I have encountered diabetes stigma, with people not really believing that I am living with diabetes. Rumours going around about how I am “hiding behind diabetes”, and that I might be living with HIV. When I was initially diagnosed, at the age of 33, I lost so much weight. Many people believed I was too young to have diabetes and I had to explain myself all the time. Some people even believed that my diabetes was the result of me consuming too much sugary foods.

If you could change one thing about diabetes, what would it be?

If I could change one thing about diabetes, I would find a way to ease the daily/hourly management routine that means having to constantly watch everything you eat and monitor blood glucose. It can be mentally exhausting sometimes.

I wish our government could put more resources into the fight against diabetes, because the number of people being diagnosed with diabetes increases daily and more people die due to lack of resources.

I would love for everyone who is living with diabetes to have a glucometer, and be provided with enough education to successfully manage the condition.

What would you say to a person with diabetes who is struggling?

I would say yes, the struggle of living with diabetes can be challenging, but life in general is a challenge. So take the lemons that life gives you, squeeze all the juice out of those lemons, make the best lemonade, and share it with the people who are in the same boat as you!

Educate yourself, stay positive, strive to live healthy, life can actually be a good shade of blue!

What makes your life sweet?

I always tell people that I live a sugar free life because I am already too sweet. This is actually true because over the years I have endeavoured to build a life that is positive by taking the challenges that life throws at me and turning them into positives.

I developed some of my strengths through fighting diabetes.

Over time, I have learnt to train myself to understand emotions, body and environment, and this has helped me to build a mindset and an environment around me which fosters growth.

I look around my life now and I marvel at how far I have come.

I am now a community activist, and a voice for others, living a life full of purpose. A far cry from that young woman who was shaking from fear after being diagnosed with diabetes. Life can indeed be sweeter on the other side of the diabetes sting.

Connect with Lindie on social media

Facebook: Lindie Nono Mdluli
TikTok: @nomvulalo
Linkedin: Lindie Nono Motsoane