Diabetes doesn’t start the same way for everyone. Some are born into it through family history, while others develop it over time, shaped by how they eat, move, and live. But no matter how it starts, it can affect anyone – it could be your friend, your neighbour, your co-worker, or even you.
Still, despite how common it is, diabetes carries stigma. People are often blamed or judged for having it. That kind of thinking can be isolating, making it harder to talk about the condition or manage it openly.
To change this, Sweet Life Diabetes Community launched a campaign, “Diabetes Looks Like Me”, to unpack the realities of living with the condition and challenge the stereotypes. In this story, we’re digging into what diabetes really looks like – from the physical to the emotional – and how people live with it, without shame.
A child’s world with diabetes
Cape Town-based Sane Mazibuko has lived with diabetes for 29 years – an experience that began at just six years old. Over the years, she’s come to understand the complex, frustrating, and isolating journey of managing the condition, especially at a time when not many people knew what it was.
“At the time, very few people knew about the illness,” she says.
“I didn’t fully grasp how important it was to manage my medication properly or how to fuel my body beyond the usual ‘you can’t eat sugar’ narrative.”
Sane Mazibuko
Mazibuko was the only child she knew living with diabetes. That sense of isolation made it even harder to understand what was going on in her body. She struggled especially during physical activities like netball and hockey.
“I was eating in a way that didn’t support my energy needs. I’d often end up feeling sick after matches,” she recalls.
“I also hated my lunch because it was bland compared to my friends’ food.”
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Being different as a child made her retreat into books. Reading became her escape and a way to keep diabetes from defining her.
“I was a ‘good girl’, always in the top 5 to 10 of my class, never got into trouble. So, when I started seeing high blood sugar readings, I felt ashamed.”
She admits that physically, she wasn’t doing well. “I didn’t want to disappoint my parents or my doctor, so I hid the truth. That silence became dangerous.”
At the age of 11, her eyesight started to deteriorate, but she was too scared to speak up. “I had been warned that diabetes could lead to blindness, so instead of asking for help, I kept quiet.”
It took a breakdown during a school test for anyone to notice. An eye test revealed she had cataracts in both eyes and needed surgery.
“Looking back, had I felt safe enough to talk about my high readings earlier, we could have adjusted my treatment and possibly prevented that damage.”
Another layer of difficulty came during puberty. “I didn’t know that insulin is a hormone, and so is everything that comes with getting your period,” she explains.
“My blood sugars became even more unpredictable, and I started missing school because of it.”
Mazibuko says what made things worse was the internal judgment she placed on herself and the stigma around the condition.
“There was a fear of being seen as failing, and that silence just made the burden even heavier.”
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Challenging myths and misconceptions
The co-founder of Sweet Life, Bridget McNulty, unpacks what diabetes looks like, saying that diabetes stigma might seem like a minor problem, and people making bad jokes about getting diabetes or acting weird around injections.
“But the reality is that South Africa has a huge diabetes stigma problem, and it’s contributing to the fact that one in two South Africans with diabetes are undiagnosed.”
She explains that this contributes directly to the fact that diabetes is the number one killer of women and the number two killer of men in our country.
“We can’t keep quiet about diabetes any longer. It’s costing us our lives. It’s time to change the face of diabetes in South Africa.”
How?
McNulty advises, “By showing that diabetes doesn’t just affect one kind of person. It looks like me, and you, and all these other people.”
She also says it can be done by bringing diabetes into the spotlight: online, in person and in the media, and by dispelling the myths and misinformation around diabetes.
“Being afraid to speak up about diabetes can lead to delaying treatment and long-term complications. With the right treatment and support, you can live a happy, healthy life with diabetes.”
McNulty emphasised that it’s important to note that nobody ‘gives’ themselves diabetes. Type 2 diabetes can be reversed if diagnosed early enough.
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