Decolonised Mentoring and Black Women's Excellence: Some Thoughts on Mentoring in Post-Apartheid South Africa

South Africa has had a turbulent history, having survived two colonial empires that left it in a state of repair. For Black women to succeed in post-apartheid South Africa, mentoring is indispensable. The form that this mentoring take is, however, imperative as it can initiate Black women's excellence that speak to the natural potential and ability that they possess to overcome the overlapping barriers placed on them by oppressive systems such as coloniality, race, and gender. As a first-generation graduate who identifies as both Coloured and Black in South Africa, I have been fortunate to serve as a mentor in various educational and employment contexts. Through my experience as a mentee and now mentor, I reflect on my position in post-apartheid South Africa as a Black woman and mentor to other Black women. The focus of this paper is to advance decolonial mentoring that attend to colonial and apartheid remnants in the present while also seeking to foster Black women's excellence. Consequently, decolonial love and healing are prioritised.