#TheFroMustGo! Here’s why everyone’s favourite daddy blogger is about to go bald

Popular parenting blogger, vlogger and podcaster Terence Mentor is offering up his best asset – his career-defining ‘fro – to raise money for childcare nonprofit The Maletsatsi Foundation.

Terence Mentor founded AfroDaddy six years ago to create a space where parents (especially dads) can get encouragement and support.

 The content creator is going LIVE on Friday, 25 June and is looking to raise R120 000 in exchange for some hilarious dares and stunts at his expense. The best part? We can tune in to the humiliation from the comfort of our own homes and we get to feel good about contributing to a good cause. The more money you raise for the Maletsatsi Foundation, the tougher the challenge for Terence (hopefully culminating in him shaving off his trademark ‘do).

AfroDaddy is no stranger to livestreamed fundraising events. In December, Terence and his wife Julie raised R15 600 for the Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children to help support survivors of gender-based violence and domestic assault. Julie endured the humiliation alongside her husband for that event, famously scooping raw egg out of her hair for weeks thereafter. But this year, Julie’s in the driver’s seat and Terence won’t know what additional fates might befall him until the day of the big shave.

So how attached is AfroDaddy to his signature mane? It’s been 11 years since the influencer missed enough barber appointments to make his hair a talking point. And while having an afro was never meant to identify him, Terence says he might miss his hair more than he cares to admit.

“I really want to say that I’m not attached to my hair, and that it’s just hair, but that wouldn’t be true. My hair is a big part of my personality and how other people view me. After all this time, it would be a huge life adjustment for me to cut it all off.”

That said, Terence is willing to do it for Maletsatsi, a foundation that provides care for children in need of a place of safety. More than that, the staff at Maletsatsi are a home and a family for the young people in their care. 

Some of the children at the foundation are now reaching an age where formal education needs to be prioritised, which is putting pressure on an already stretched budget. 

And that’s where you come in.

Help send a child to school by pledging your donation to The Maletsatsi Foundation, and be sure to tune in to the livestreamed event via the AfroDaddy Instagram page on Friday 25 June from 19h30.

“As the day approaches, I’m definitely feeling more and more nervous and uncertain about it all,” says the vlogger. “Actually, the only certainty I have right now is that if we raise enough funds to send five children to school for a year, the afro goes!”

Why support The Maletsatsi Foundation?

Terence founded AfroDaddy six years ago to create a space where parents (especially dads) can get encouragement and support. The ethos of the platform is to encourage present, positive and engaged fatherhood.

“Over time, I've grown to realise that being an engaged parent means we also need to show our kids that our realm of responsibility goes beyond our immediate family. As parents, we need to be engaged and positive for all the children of this country.”

It’s a daunting prospect to be sure, but the altruist in Terence is convinced that, if we all do our small part, the load will be much lighter. “If we want our kids to be ready for the world they are going to live in, we need to start doing that work now,” he says.

“Becoming a foster parent or a regular volunteer at a children’s home might not be the right path for everyone, but that doesn’t mean that we as members of a collective society can’t support the people who are called for these jobs. That’s really what this fundraiser is all about.”