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Humans of RCL FOODS – #StrongHer Edition
#StrongHer: Christabel Hlatshwayo – Choosing purpose over pain
Every morning, before the workday began, Christabel Hlatshwayo would pull over at the cemetery.
For months after losing her 13-year-old son to bone marrow cancer, it became part of her routine. She would stand quietly beside his grave, gather herself, and then continue to the office. It wasn’t about finding closure. It was simply the way she had learned to carry her grief.
“There is no manual for grief,” she says. “I think I wrote my own.” What is remarkable is not that Christabel endured unimaginable loss, but that she refused to let it diminish the way she showed up for others. Instead, it deepened her compassion, strengthened her faith and reinforced something that had guided her long before life tested her so profoundly: people have always been her purpose.
“My career has always been about people,” she says. “I love people. I love talking to people and motivating them.” That purpose has shaped every chapter of her life. It influenced the determination that carried her through university as a young mother, the humility with which she approached her first internship, the resilience she drew on when her career took an unexpected turn and the empathy she now brings to colleagues navigating their own challenges.
Born and raised in Nelspruit, Christabel studied BA in Languages at the University of Durban-Westville (now the University of KwaZulu-Natal). She then did a Certificate in Public Relations. During her final year she became a young mother, completing her degree with a renewed determination to build a future for both herself and her daughter.
Her first opportunity came through an internship in the Premier’s Office. When the employee responsible for cleaning the offices and serving tea went on leave, Christabel stepped in without hesitation. She cleaned toilets, swept floors and served refreshments with the same care she would later bring to media liaison and corporate communications.
“If I couldn’t be trusted with the small things,” she says, “I would never be trusted with greater ones.” That lesson stayed with her throughout a career that took her from the Premier’s Office to the Department of Economic Affairs, where she worked on the Maputo Development Corridor as a Communications Project Manager, while studying for Project Management at Wits, and later to the Mpumalanga Gambling Board, where she helped pioneer gambling awareness campaigns that reached communities across the province.
In 2012 she joined the then TSB as Corporate Communications Manager, relocating to Malelane with her four children. As a single mother, the move offered the opportunity to build both a career and a stable home life.
Just two years later, TSB became part of RCL FOODS. The Corporate Affairs department was consolidated and the position she had worked so hard to build disappeared. Rather than leaving the organisation, she accepted a lower-level role because providing for her family mattered more than holding onto a title.
The adjustment was difficult. Benefits disappeared, expenses had to be cut and one morning, after dropping her children at school, her car was repossessed from the company parking lot. She quietly arranged a lift home and carried on. Later, her mother settled the outstanding balance, reminding her that accepting help is also a form of strength.
Instead of allowing that season to define her, Christabel chose reinvention. She stepped into Learning and Development despite having no formal background in the field, studying every evening after work to earn her Skills Development Facilitation qualification. Her commitment paid off when she achieved 100% on one of her first portfolios, opening the door to a completely new chapter.
Today she serves as Skills Development Facilitator for RCL FOODS Sugar, overseeing bursaries, internships, learnerships, graduate programmes and company-assisted studies. She has helped more than 200 learners begin or advance their careers, but she measures success by lives changed rather than numbers achieved.
Her passion also extends to programmes such as the Women’s Empowerment Programme and Khuluma Ndoda, creating safe spaces where employees can speak openly about wellbeing, relationships, financial wellness and personal growth. For Christabel, true development has always been about the whole person.
Personal loss has deepened that belief. Alongside the loss of her son, she later lost her mother, brother and father. Those experiences tested her faith but also taught her empathy and compassion. Today, colleagues facing grief often seek her out because they know they will find someone who truly understands.
One lesson has guided her through every season: “Nothing happens to you, but for you.” Rather than asking, “Why me?”, she asks, “What can I learn from this, and how can I use it to help someone else?”
Away from work, Christabel finds joy in gardening, growing vegetables, mangoes, avocados and lychees, and spending time cooking and baking for her family. She is affectionately known as “Glammy” to her grandsons and lovingly refers to her son-in-law as her “son- in-love”.
When asked what legacy she hopes to leave, her answer is simple. She wants to be remembered not for the positions she held, but for the lives she touched. If someone found hope, confidence or an opportunity because their paths crossed, she believes she has fulfilled her purpose.
Perhaps that is the true meaning of #StrongHer. It is not about never experiencing hardship. It is about choosing purpose over pain, hope over fear and lifting others as you rise. Christabel’s journey reminds us that the quietest acts of resilience often leave the greatest impact.
