Monday 26 August 2013

The turbulent 1950s - Women as defiant activists

In the year 2000, four young oral historians interviewed fourteen women who participated in the 1956 March. Here are extracts from three interviews.

(Q: Indicates interviewer's question) Interview One: Dorothy Masenya (DM) (Interviewed in English) 

Q: What motivated you to, finally, say “I'm taking the government with its horns? I'm facing the bull with its horns?” What motivated you to take part in the March itself?

 DM: Well I felt as an African woman I should to do something. I'm Black when I feel to be. What will I have done for the nation, yes?

Q: So you felt you were concerned?

DM: I was very concerned, directly, because this would come down even with our descendants.

Q: How did the women get to Pretoria?

DM: Yes, we all converged, other people from other centres, Johannesburg. They were coming by trains and thing like that Springs, East Rand and things like that… In fact old people; older people were given lifts by the patronage from Johannesburg and other countries. But we were a big force. Also from Lady Selbourne. We had a very big force to join the others. We met somewhere in town there … Did we meet at Boom Street? Boom and Andries but not very far from the hospital there that.

Q: Can you just give us briefly what was the mood? How did you feel?

DM: (laughter) We because now, really, we had never carried passes. We were all enthusiastic to get there and see this Boer bass and tell him that we are not going to carry those things. So there were the ladies oh Mrs Moodley, Helen, Lilian Ngoyi, oh they were very many I remember ….oh ja Bertha Mashaba,… Amina Cachalia. Yes she was young lady….We had so many things to talk about really. As I say, in fact we wanted to see whether were these were we gong to be arrested, or where would they find a prison to fill up this entire mob. You see that was the big idea o a bona [you see] if they arrest one we all walk in and no turning back. We are all just there for ….So instead, really they gave us a way out. Nobody was arrested on that day.

Interview Two: Caroline Motsoaledi (CM) (Interviewed in Northern Sotho and translated into English)

Q: Can you explain a little bit about the March, how it was organized, how did you organize the women, where did you get transport money to Pretoria?

 CM: We use to convene meetings now and then at Mzimhlophe. Many people organized at their own branches. We were using trains for transport, to Pretoria. We walked to the Union Building we sat in the garden. Our leaders went inside the building to submit memorandum to Strijdom but they did not find him. There was no one to receive and read the memorandum. Our leaders called us into the courtyard.

Interview Three: Magdalene Matshadi Tsoane (MT) and Rahaba Mahlakedi Moeketsi (RM) (Interviewed together in Northern Sotho and translated into English) 

Q: How did you feel as you were mixed according to race?

RM: I can say I was happy to work with different people but the people I have enjoyed most were the Indians. I have many friends in India. People like Amina Cachalia were there.

MT: We also worked very closely with people like Lilian Ngoyi and many more. During the march we were together with Ma-Moeketsi and others. I was always with Ma-Moeketsi.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about the South African Federation of Women?

RM: I am the one who was the member of that organization. I was working with many white women in this organization. We use to attend meetings in Johannesburg.

Q: Were you not afraid for your children during the 1956 March?

RM: No, we had our children on our backs during the March. Many women had their children with them during the March. Some were carrying the white children with them, those who were working for whites.

Q: Tell us about the songs you sung.

MT: We were singing the song, which says 'Verwoerd, the black people will kill you and we do not want Bantu Education'("Verwoerd, batho ba bantsho ba tlo go bolaya and gape ga re batle Bantu Education). And the song was saying: 'If you strike a woman, you strike a rock'('Wathint'aBafazi, waThint'iMbokodo')

Q: Can you sing one song for us? RM and MT: Yes it goes like this [Singing] "Forward we go to Pretoria, Forward we go to Pretoria".(Yona ere: "Pele re aya Pretoria, pele re aya Pretoria".)

Image and content courtesy of: http://www.sahistory.org.za/

Inspiring Woman of the week


Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was elected recently to become the first female head of the African Union (AU) Commission. She was the South African Minister of the Department of Home Affairs. She is a member of the African National Congress National Executive Committee and National Working Committee.

She is also a member of the African National Congress Women's League National Executive Committee and the National Progressive Women's Movement of South Africa.

She was South Africa's Minister of Health from 1994 to 1999, under President Nelson Mandela, then Minister of Foreign Affairs from 17 June 1999 to 10 May 2009, under Presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Molanthe. She was moved to the position of Minister of Home Affairs in the Cabinet of President Jacob Zuma.


On 15 July 2012, Dlamini-Zuma was elected by the African Union Commission as its chairperson, making her the first woman to lead the organisation.
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, a Zulu, was born in Natal, the eldest of eight children. She completed high school at the Amanzimtoti Training College in 1967. In 1971, she started her studies in Zoology and Botany at the University of Zululand, from where she obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Science (BSc). She subsequently started her medical studies at the University of Natal.

During her studies in the early 1970s, she became an active underground member of the (then banned) African National Congress. At the same time, she was also a member of the South African Students Organisation and was elected as its deputy president in 1976.

In the same year Dlamini-Zuma fled into exile; she completed her medical studies at the University of Bristol in 1978. She subsequently worked as a doctor at the Mbabane Government Hospital in Swaziland, where she met her future husband, current ANC party president Jacob Zuma. In 1985 she returned to the United Kingdom in order to complete a diploma in tropical child health from Liverpool University's School of Tropical Medicine. After receiving her diploma, she worked for the ANC Regional Health Committee before accepting the position of director of the Health and Refugee Trust, a British non-governmental organization.

At the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) negotiations in 1992, she was part of the Gender Advisory Committee. After the first all-inclusive South African elections of 1994, she was appointed as Minister of Health in the cabinet of President Nelson Mandela.

During her tenure as Minister of Health she de-segregated the health system and gave poor people access to free basic healthcare. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma divorced from Jacob Zuma in 1998.

She brought forward the Tobacco Products Control Bill in 1999, which made it illegal for anyone to smoke in public places.

Following the 1999 general election, Nelson Mandela retired as President and was replaced by Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki appointed Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

She was offered the Deputy Presidency of South Africa by Thabo Mbeki after he fired Jacob Zuma, but declined it after talking to her children.

Nkosazana was suggested as a possible ANC candidate for the Presidency in the 2009 election and for the leadership of the party.

She has four children, Msholozi (born 1982), Gugulethu (born 1985), Thuli (Nokuthula Nomaqhawe) (born 1987) and Thuthu (Thuthukile Xolile Nomonde) (born 1988).

Nkosazana has been awarded honourary Doctor of Law degrees by both the University of Natal (1995) and the University of Bristol (1996).

Nkosazana, we salute you!

Content and image courtesy of : http://www.inspiringwomen.co.za

Monday 19 August 2013

Top Women in Business: South Africa


This week we feature content from who’s who South Africa.  As we continue with Women’s Month celebrations, the below blog post touches on the most influential businesswomen in South African according to Mail and Guardian.



Dawn Mokhobo is an Independent Non-Executive Director for Allied Electronics Corporation Limited. She was the first black woman to be elected to the management board of Eskom. She is the Chairperson of African International Advisors and the Ombudsman Council for Long Term Insurance and Executive Deputy Chairperson of Partnership Investments, a woman-controlled BEE enterprise. She won the Businesswoman of the Year award in 1993.

Dawn Mokhobo



Salukazi Dakile Hlongwane is Chief Executive of Nozala Investments. Nozala Investments is a leading investment company with interests ranging from hospitals and education to construction materials and telecoms. She is former Assistant General Manager of Specialised Finance at BoE, and Senior Manager of the structured finance unit and Former Senior Project Officer at the Lesotho National Development Corporation. She is also the Director of Educor, Tsogo Sun, Eskom Enterprises, and the CEO of Eqstra Holdings Limited.



Joan Joffe is a Lead Independent Non-Executive Director of Datacentrix Holdings Limited. She has been in the IT and telecoms industry since 1960. In 1977 she started Joffe Associates, where she sold the company 10 years later. She is a founding member of broad-based women empowerment group Nozala Investments.



Christine Ramon is an Executive Director and the Chief Financial Officer of Sasol Limited. She is a member of the risk, safety, health and environment committee. She is also a former Non-Executive Director of Transnet Limited. Ramon is a Chartered Accountant and completed the Senior Executive Programme at Harvard Business School in conjunction with Wits Business School. She currently serves as Deputy Chair of the Financial Reporting Standards Council in South Africa.



Santie Botha is the Chancellor of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. Botha also serves as the Independent Non-Executive Director of Tiger Brands Limited.


Susan Botha



Su Birch is the CEO Wines of South Africa, the industry organisation responsible for the promotion of all South African wine in export markets. Birch is former Marketing Manager of Capespan.



Wendy Luhabe is a South African businesswoman, social entrepreneur and author. She gained ten years of national and international corporate experience with Vanda Cosmetics and for the BMW Group. In 1991, Luhabe founded Bridging the Gap, her first exercise in social entrepreneurship. In 1994, she pioneered the founding of Women Investment Portfolio Holdings, which listed on the JSE in 1999. In 1999 she was also honoured as one of the 50 Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World. She was inaugurated as Chancellor of the University of Johannesburg in September 2006.



Totsie Memela Khambule is Managing Director of Postbank, in 2006. She joined First Rand in 2001 and prior to moving to Postbank, was CEO of customer services and retention for First National Bank home loans division.



Mamphela Ramphele is the Chairperson of Circle Capital Ventures Limited. She is the former Chairperson of Goldfields Limited. She is also an academic, businesswoman and medical doctor and was an anti-apartheid activist. She was one of the founders of the Black Consciousness Movement, along with Steve Biko. Mamphela Ramphele was voted 55th in the Top 100 Great South Africans in 2004. She is currently serves as a Director of Medi-Clinic Corporation Limited and Business Partners. In February 2013 she officially launched a new political party platform called Agang, which is Sesotho for ‘build’.



Established in 1992, Jenna Clifford Designs is a brand which is synonymous with quality, style and luxury. The company originally focussed exclusively on jewellery design, but today has grown to include four innovative brands: Jenna Clifford Fine Jewellery, Renaissance Jewellery by Jenna Clifford, Jenna Clifford Homeware and Jenna Clifford Trophies. By adding a personal touch to the purchase of jewellery, Jenna Clifford Designs has differentiated itself from any other jewellery designers and manufacturers. The jewellery is still designed by Clifford herself, who is assisted by highly qualified designers who have received years of training, honing their skills to create jewellery which carries the signature Jenna Clifford style.
Jenna Clifford




Libby Lloyd started out as a journalist, working mostly in radio for Capital Radio in South Africa, National Public Radio in the United States and BBC Ireland. CEO of the Media Development and Diversity Agency. She was chosen as Vodacom Media Woman of the Year in 2005.



Khanyi Ntsaluba is the Director of Mvelaphanda Platinum Limited. She served as an external audit committee member for the Gauteng provincial government.
Financial Director of Mvelaphanda Resources



Phuti Mahanyele is Director of Energy at Shanduka Group. Prior to joining Shanduka Group, she headed the Project Finance South Africa unit at the Development Bank of Southern Africa. Phuti Malabie was listed as one of the “Top 50 women in the world to watch in 2008” by the Wall Street Journal and awarded the “Most Influential Woman in Government and Business by Financial Services” in 2009.



Khanyi Dhlomo is the Managing Director of Ndalo Media, which she founded in 2007. She is also the founder of DestinyConnect and the Founding Editor of Destiny Magazine. Prior to beginning her own media company, Dhlomo served as editor of True Love magazine for eight years. She was named most influential woman in South African Media by The Media Magazine in 2003 and made the 2011 Forbes list of 20 Young Power Women in Africa.




Sibongile Sambo is the Founder and Managing Director of SRS Aviation, a 100 percent black female owned aviation company that provides personal and professional flights to global destinations. In 2007, Sambo was named a Leader of Tomorrow by Fortune magazine, and in 2008, Sambo featured in the World Bank report entitled Doing Business: Women in Africa.
MD of SRS Aviation




Precious Moli-Motsepe is an Executive Chairperson for African Fashion International. Her company owns and hosts Fashion weeks in South Africa. AFI's mission is to promote and develop South African and African fashion and to bring it into the mainstream. Through partnerships with various companies and government, AFI brings together fashion designers, media, retailers and consumers. This gives fashion designers media publicity and orders from retail buyers and the public. She is also a Chairperson for Leisureworx. Moloi-Motsepe was a speaker on 'Women and Health in the Workplace' at the Global Summit of Women held in South Africa in 2000. She has worked in public hospitals in Johannesburg and Pretoria, specializing mainly in Paediatrics. She then went to Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A. where her interest in women's health first began. She holds a Diploma in Reproductive Health and Child Health.
Precious Moli-Motsepe





Lulu Letlape is a Communications Practitioner and business leader; Executive Director for Mercedes-Benz South Africa (Proprietary) Limited. Former Group Executive for Corporate Communication and Brand Management at Telkom.



Adria Greene is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lawpoint. The World Economic Forum named Greene a Young Global Leader (2009).She is a Founding Member of the South African Legal Process Outsourcing Association and is an active member of a number of boards and non-profit organizations.




Tania Holgate is the Sole Member Zulugas Fuel and Transport. Zulugas Fuel and Transport was formerly known as Zululand Gas and Outdoor, the company name was changed in 2006. Holgate was a finalist in the 2008 Businesswoman of the Year competition.




Portia Maurice is Chief Officer of Corporate Affairs at Vodacom Group Limited. She is also a member of the Vodacom Group Executive Committee. Maurice was previously Vodacom’s Chief Officer of Public Affairs and Sustainability. She has been Chief Executive Officer of environmental management company Tedcor and Nehanda Group, a women’s investment company of which she remains a non-executive board member. She spent five years as a General Manager at the MTN Group. Maurice is a Non-Executive Director of Ga Ra Geng Travel. She is a former journalist, she has worked in a range of media houses including The Argus, Mail & Guardian, Sowetan and the South African Broadcasting Corporation.




Leigh Meinert is a co-founder and Managing Director of the Tertiary School in Business Administration (TSiBA), a private not-for-profit provider of higher education based in Cape Town. TSiBA offers emerging leaders an opportunity to study towards an innovative and enriched business degree that is focused on entrepreneurship and leadership.
Leigh Meinert




Maud Motanyane is the Chair of Kagiso Media Limited. She is the founding editor of Tribute magazine.




Kerrin Myres Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship at Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand. She was the founder and CEO of Resonance (a research-based consultancy which specialises in the design and evaluation of entrepreneurial development programmes). Myres also established the Richard Branson School of Entrepreneurship at Cida City Campus.


 

For more information on these phenomenal women visit: http://whoswho.co.za/list/Top-Women-in-Business%3A-South-Africa