Africa Rising’s Ndaba Mandela and RuFF CuTT Studio’s Menelik Nesta Gibbons (Don Dada) Announce Strategic Cultural Partnership

28 January 2026

Johannesburg, South Africa — A new cultural partnership has emerged between Africa Rising’s Ndaba Mandela , advocate for African entrepreneurship and legacy leadership, and RuFF CuTT Studio’s Menelik Nesta Gibbons , globally known as Don Dada—a multi-platinum & multi Award winning South African artist, cultural strategist, and global creative voice.

Rooted in shared values of heritage, justice, and future-focused African leadership, this collaboration brings together legacy and lived experience, culture and strategy, sound and systems. While details of the partnership will unfold over time, its intention is clear: to contribute meaningfully to the development of conscious creative economies, youth empowerment, and global African narratives.

Both Mandela and Gibbons are respected internationally for their work beyond symbolism—engaging education, culture, and enterprise as tools for long-term impact. This partnership signals a commitment to substance over spectacle, and to building frameworks that honour history while designing pathways forward.

“This is not a moment,” said a representative close to the collaboration. “It is a process—intentional, values-driven, and future-oriented.”

The partnership invites alignment from institutions, cultural bodies, and strategic partners who understand the power of culture as infrastructure and who are committed to ethical, sustainable impact.

*Image: Ndaba Mandela & Don Dada (Suppiled)