For Tshepo Mantje, early childhood development (ECD) is not just a technical field or a policy niche, it is liberation work. As an alumnus of the DGMT Innovation Fellowship and national coordinator of Real Reform for ECD, Tshepo sees this work as a justice project that must be rooted in community, policy, and care.
His journey into the ECD space was anything but linear. Initially on a path to corporate law, Tshepo found himself drawn to psychology, especially developmental and childhood psychology. During a service-learning elective working with young children in Makhanda, he noticed something: the challenges faced by children were not individual. They were systemic. There was a clear disregard for young lives in the way society and the state provided support.
That moment shifted everything. He completed his honours in psychology, then circled back to law, this time focusing on human rights and education law. It was around this time that ECD began gaining national momentum, particularly with the function shift from the Department of Social Development to the Department of Basic Education. Tshepo stepped into the sector just as the Real Reform for ECD movement was forming. It felt like divine timing.
Today, his work sits at the intersection of legal reform, grassroots mobilisation, and systems change. Real Reform for ECD is a national advocacy movement that identifies gaps in South Africa’s legislative and policy framework and works to close them. Tshepo and his team equip everyday people, especially ECD practitioners, to become active participants in the law-making processes. His philosophy is clear: law and policy are not reserved for the elite. They belong to everyone. Everyone has a role to play in shaping the systems that support young children.
Tshepo is quick to correct the common misconception that ECD means crèches or daycare centres. ECD, he explains, is a critical developmental window from conception to age six during which the human brain undergoes rapid growth. It is the period when children begin to form the foundations of their identity, sense of safety, and learning. A crèche is merely one kind of support. True ECD is about an ecosystem of care that includes maternal health, nutrition, responsive caregiving, protection from conflict, cognitive stimulation through play, and much more.
In a crèche, play is not just a pastime. It is the foundation of learning. Through play, children build cognitive skills, strengthen problem-solving abilities, improve motor coordination, and develop emotional regulation and social awareness. However, Tshepo points out that ECD support must be present wherever a child is. Whether in a crèche, at home, in a clinic waiting room, or playing in a park, the environment should offer safety, nurturing care, and opportunities for development.
Importantly, Tshepo insists that ECD cannot be viewed in isolation from justice and identity. His work is intentionally rooted in the African context, where community has traditionally played a vital role in raising children. For him, ECD is not simply about meeting developmental milestones. It is about crafting the next generation of confident, resilient Africans, starting with how they are raised in those formative years.
Part of that vision includes reframing the role of men in early childhood care. In a sector predominantly led by Black women, Tshepo often finds his presence surprising to others. People frequently ask why he is in the space or if he has children of his own. He recognises that society has long coded nurturing, compassion, and caregiving as feminine traits. But he believes this work needs both masculine and feminine expressions. Without male caregivers, a significant gap is created. Children benefit from diverse, loving relationships, and the presence of male figures in their lives helps to expand their world. When caregiving is shared, both mothers and children are better supported.
Tshepo’s leadership is shaped by a political voice honed through years of advocacy, but also by humility and inner discipline. His advice to emerging leaders is straightforward: if you cannot lead yourself, you cannot lead others. Discipline, personal accountability, and staying true to your word are the foundations of influence.
His optimism is not abstract. In the last five years, the ECD sector has made real progress. The function shift has improved coordination. The Vangasali mass registration drive has made it easier for centres to become registered and recognised. More funding has been secured for ECD, increasing from R2 billion to R10 billion in a single year. A government-led ECD summit has brought civil society, business, and government together to create a national strategy for universal access by 2030. A national census of ECD sites has also helped map the landscape. For Tshepo, this marks the end of the planning phase. It is time to implement.
Action, for him, looks like getting every role-player to the table. It looks like using data to inform service delivery, making legal frameworks accessible, and ensuring that funding translates to real change on the ground. ECD is not the work of one department or one organisation. It is collective work that needs grandparents, teachers, parents, municipal officials, and policymakers all playing their part.
What brings him joy is seeing the sector come together and begin to break silos. For Tshepo, love is not an abstract concept in this work. It is the driving force. In early childhood development, love is visible in the way people show up for children. He finds hope in seeing that love guide the work.
He believes in a future where every child is supported by a village and where every adult reflects on the question: what is my role in raising the next generation?
For Tshepo, ECD is not just a cause. It is a calling. And South Africa needs all hands on deck.