Tinkz: Building a brand in South Africa’s toughest booths

It wasn’t a phase or a hobby but a decision made on the spot. Tinkz kept gravitating towards the scene until an opening appeared. Years later, the youth events brand U-Party invited her onto a new DJ programme. After graduating, she became a resident for the brand, notably its first female resident in nearly two decades of events.

Her route was never straightforward. She tried corporate life but hated sitting behind a desk. She studied sound engineering and music production, insisting on learning properly on CDJs rather than “picking up bad habits” online. She also learned quickly that breakthroughs often come with setbacks. At one point, she was earning more from gigs than from her day job; a venue then offered a residency worth more than her salary. She resigned, only for the residency to be cancelled the following month, a brutal lesson in the volatility of the work.

Tinkz builds her sets around energy mapping, crates for different moments, and cue points she can reach quickly, while still having the humility to pivot when the floor goes cold. It’s never one genre forever. She credits U-Party crowds, with teen attention spans measured in seconds, for teaching her to read the room and adapt fast.

Then there’s the business side. “Corporates pay the bills,” she says. But that comes with its own challenges. Requests from corporate crowds range from amapiano to Taylor Swift to kwaito, often in the same ten minutes. Festivals, club residencies and brand work, on the other hand, build identity and reach. Her rule of thumb is to treat them as different jobs with different expectations, while maintaining a story that sets her apart.

Tinkz also co-runs YES MA’AM, a women-centred platform she launched with veteran DJ Lady Lea to put emerging female DJs on major stages such as Truth, The Greenhouse Bar, and Rita’s Cocktail Bar, line-ups that can take years to access without a co-sign. The model combines workshops with real bookings during Women’s Month and beyond, giving new talent a first professional foothold.

Defining moments in her career include becoming U-Party’s first female resident and sharing a stage with Mi Casa early on. At the time, a lecturer told her that a crucial track would never work, but it became the highlight of the night and a personal turning point in trusting her instincts.

The work brings visibility but not without challenges. South Africa’s circuit is late-night, male-dominated, and unpredictably paid. Tinkz sets firm boundaries: she doesn’t drink at gigs, communicates arrivals and departures with her family, and treats contracts, routes, parking, and exits as part of her preparation.

Offstage, her CV reflects consistency. She has held corporate residencies, built a social following, and earned recognition on industry lists, placing 22nd (2018) and 21st (2019) among Africa’s female DJs on DJaneTop’s rankings. Beyond local club and festival work, she has performed internationally in France, Turkey, England, and Mozambique.

If there’s a thread running through her story, it’s resilience. While the industry has its challenges, she focuses on creating multiple income streams, building a platform that empowers women, and preparing so thoroughly that it appears effortless. She also embodies an old-school ethos: show up on time, know your crowd, and keep them dancing, principles that never go out of style.

South African media often celebrate meteoric rises, but Tinkz’s story is more instructive. It’s a decade-long apprenticeship in craft, refusing to be boxed into a single genre, and proving that safety, ethics, and professionalism matter just as much as the music itself.

Iwan Pienaar is an experienced content strategist, writer, and communications advisor. The views expressed in this article are his and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication.