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.”
Mathole officially launched the Dipitsa Stofong page in 2024, a pilgrimage to rediscover the joy of homemaking and family. She denotes that the pursuit of homemaking is a ministry, not a trend and other women should understand what will be required of them beforehand..
“It's great if women want to do it and they must know what will be required because it's not just a trend. I fully believe homemaking is a ministry and I believe that it is my calling to be doing what I'm doing right now — that's why I had to leave my corporate job to step into this role,” Mathole says.
“Through the platform, I’m simply sharing my love for homemaking and teaching ladies the things that my mom taught me growing up and how I've implemented them in my home, which has made my life much easier.” Mathole grew up in Evaton West, in Emfuleni local municipality. She honours her mother for equipping her with the kitchen skills and preparing her for teaching other women.
“My mother is an amazing woman,” says Mathole, her eyes brimming with tears. “We grew up in a family that was not well off, but I grew up around a mom who was hard working and made sure that every single day there was food on the table. She would wake up in the morning and cook. Sometimes, you're asked to come peel vegetables and help, especially on Sunday, and at the time as a young girl you believe this is such a chore but, in hindsight, it was preparing me for what I'm doing right now.
So it's small things such as how to peel a potato and make sure the dishes are washed and packed away after every meal. It's funny though, because looking back, I don't think my mom was intentional about making me a homemaker, it was me watching her.”
Mathole believes the lessons she learned from her mother was to live an ordered life, which enables her to pour into her cup, and to take care of her family and the household.
“I noticed how organised her life was. If you're cooking dinner in the morning, then the rest of your day you can relax and do other things. So, when I think about that, I'm like, ah, it makes sense. That’s how she ran her life, and it gave her order, and it also created routine within the house. She was neat and had things done in a particular way. And thinking back on those things, I can see how they shaped who I am today and why I run my life the way I do.”
