Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Durban’s famous snake catcher
A GYM enthusiast who bench-presses 75kg, loves body piercings, positive energy and snakes.
That’s Mbali Mtshali in a nutshell, the latest team member of the National Geographic Wild show Snakes in the City.
A former pupil of Sithabile Secondary School in Inanda, outside Durban, Mtshali is a trailblazer who deeply believes in the importance of conservation.
She even turned vegetarian because of her love for animals.
Mtshali has joined season eight of the Snakes in the City series, which started airing on DStv last month.
In the show, she can be seen dashing around Durban with herpetologists Simon Keys and Siouxsie Gillett, ready to rescue reptiles from every i maginable situation.
Despite her bold personality, Mtshali says she was initially terrified of snakes and looked on them as “evil creatures” likely to kill her. But then she joined an organisation as a volunteer and learnt some interesting things about reptiles which changed those perceptions.
She also had to share information about snakes with others and the first time she touched one she was surprised.
“They are not cold, they are not slimy, they actually feel good,” she told the person with her and promptly asked to touch the snake again.
Today, she loves the cold-blooded creatures, but it took a long time for her to tell her loved ones because of the myths surrounding snakes and particularly the fear of snakes in the African community.
After school she studied graphic design, public relations and marketing and later also took several modules in conservation.
Mtshali uses all of these skills to promote nature conservation and erase myths about snakes.