Biography: Sophie Mahlangu offers years of experience and practice of Ndebele beadwork and mural art. She gives concrete evidence of the Ndebele people's cultural expression, history, and indigenous knowledge. She is an expert in the transmission of knowledge utilizing the IsiNdebele language as a mechanism of culture and language preservation. She works as an IsiNdebele Indigenous Knowledge custodian to ensure that IsiNdebele art and language are protected, preserved, and advanced. She is a repository of cultural expressions on a communal level, encouraging people to keep up their cultural practices and speak the purer isiNdebele because it is their identity. She has worked with various Ndebele art custodians at a local and international level. She is part of a disguised team of Ndebele women who went globally because of their unique Ndebele art forms in the 1990s. Mrs Sophie Mahlangu has mastered the skills of creating geometric patterns which are embedded in mural art and beadwork. Therefore, she is an ethomathematician who never attended any formal school yet she understands geometry and able to exceptionally apply it in beadwork and mural art. Through her exceptional work, she has been recognized and honoured by government and public sector. She understands that this knowledge needs to be transferred to the younger generation and has been part of school programs that teach children art. Therefore, the nominee she has provided her services in government, community and public sector. Mrs Sophie Mahlangu is a servant of the Ndebele people in the sense that she has dedicated her entire life to the preservation, promotion, and transmission of IsiNdebele Indigenous Knowledge. She uses herself to educate the community and the rest of the world about IsiNdebele culture. She appreciates diverse perspectives on Ndebele culture as a teacher, and she is open to learning from others because she learnt this craft from her mother. She believes it is her responsibility to teach the next generation about IsiNdebele language, beading and mural painting. She has used art to economically improve people, unite people, and support women's independence. Sophie has demonstrated outstanding leadership in a society where it is difficult for women to thrive and where it has historically been difficult for black people to prosper. Career path and achievements : As a beadwork and mural art expect, Mrs. Mahlangu has helped in creating the VIVA AFRIKA range and has assisted in various marketing aspects. She has attended various SARCDA shows in Johannesburg, worked at the OR Tambo airport showing travelers the art of beading, assisted in store training in shops in Cape Town and shows. The Trade and Industry department around 2004 together with the Spanish department store El Corte ingles presented a 2 week showcase of South Africa. Mrs. Mahlangu together with another 5 Ndebele artists. Mrs. Mahlangu has created incredible décor objects as well as beaded blankets, wooden beaded kudus and tall giraffes. One of these giraffes is apparently showcased at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC. She participated at the 15th Annual Business Day BASA Awards in 2020, sponsored by Anglo American, recognized 14 winners, including 12 innovative business and arts partnerships, as well as South African arts advocate Mary Slack, who was named Art Champion this year, and Artist Proof studio, which won the Chairman's Premier Award. The winners were announced at an event held at Wits Arts Museum (WAM) in Braamfontein, and were chosen by an independent panel of judges. Each winner received a gorgeously beaded Ndebele Itelefoni dancing staff, created by Petrus Mahlangu and beaded by Sophie Msoziswa Mahlangu and her Nomhlekhabo Craft Africa arts group. With the Nkangala department of culture, sport & recreation, she has exhibited at the Durban Design Indaba, twice at the Innibos National Craft Awards in Mbombela and in other national centres. She has travelled to Spain and Italy with Dr Esther Mahlangu, where they completed commissions for mural paintings. Mahlangu has also created mural paintings at local venues such as KwaMhlanga police station and at Kagiso Water Park. The nominee was honoured by Aranda with the blanket in her name in 2022 and won the beaded category of the 2020 - National craft awards- department of arts and culture. The candidate is a winner in the Beading Category of the Innibos National Craft Awards 2020. Mahlangu entered a pair of beaded bicycles in the competition, which won over the judges. The goal of this work, according to Mahlangu, was to be unique. Sophie Msoziswa Mahlangu is well respected in the Ndebele society for her outstanding work and efforts of developing the Ndebele indigenous Knowledge.