Voices of Empowerment: 24 South African Women

Twenty-four South African women were interviewed about their life, career and hope for the future for 200 WOMEN, a book and exhibition project by Geoff Blackwell and Ruth Hobday founded on the principle of gender equality comprising original interviews, with accompanying photographic portraits and videos by Kieran E. Scott. This landmark project is the realisation of an epic global journey to find two hundred women with diverse backgrounds, and to ask them what really matters to them. In this exhibit, we invite you to be inspired by these incredible women: 1. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, 2. Graça Machel, 3. Nicky Asher-Pedro, 4. Audrey Brown, 5. Collette Dinnigan, 6. Zamaswazi Dlamini-Mandela, 7. Joanne Fedler, 8. Qaqamba Gubanca, 9. Zelda la Grange, 10. Ronni Kahn, 11. Gail Kelly, 12. Zaziwe Manaway, 13. Zoleka Mandela, 14. Nokwanele Mbewu, 15. Hlubi Mboya Arnold, 16. Shanthie Naidoo, 17. Masako Osada, 18. Ingrid la Roux, 19. Caster Semenya, 20. Nomvula Sikhakhane, 21. Gillian Slovo, 22. June Steenkamp, 23. Mpho Tutu van Furth and 24. Sahm Venter.

Graça Machel DBE was born in Gaza, Mozambique. She is an African stateswoman, a former freedom fighter and Mozambique’s first minister of education. She is the widow of Mozambican president Samora Machel and of former South African president Nelson Mandela. Among numerous awards, Machel has received the United Nations’ Nansen Refugee Award and is an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. She is the founder of the Graça Machel Trust and several other organisations through which she advocates for women’s economic empowerment, food security and nutrition, education and good governance.

Nicky Asher-Pedro was born in Cape Town, South Africa. As a teenager she became involved in the anti-apartheid struggle and later worked in radio. She is a social worker, activist and journalist for The Big Issue magazine, a non-profit organization that empowers unemployed and marginalized adults.

Audrey Brown was born in Kliptown, South Africa. Inspired as a child by journalists such as Maud Motanyane and Don Mattera, she later obtained a bachelor’s degree in journalism, African history and politics from Rhodes University and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Wales, and is now a broadcast journalist with the BBC World Service. Brown has been particularly influenced by her mother, Beatrice, a fierce Catholic divorcee; her beloved uncle, Gene; and the fact that she is the only girl in a family of five children.

Collette Dinnigan was born in Mandini, South Africa. She studied fashion and textiles in New Zealand before moving to Australia, where she established her eponymous fashion label in 1990. In 1995, Dinnigan became the first Australian-based designer to be invited by the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode to show a ready-to-wear collection in Paris. Her many honours include Collette Dinnigan: Unlaced, a retrospective of twenty-five years of her work at the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences in Sydney, which opened in 2015 for eighteen months. Dinnigan is now focussed on interior design projects and collaborations.

Zamaswazi Dlamini-Mandela was born in Welkom, South Africa. She is the granddaughter of Nelson Mandela and Nomzamo Nobandla Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, and of King Sobhuza II of Swaziland and Mbhono Shongwe. A business developer, public speaker and self-described serial entrepreneur, she launched her luxury fashion range, Swati by Roi Kaskara, in 2017.

Joanne Fedler was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. She studied law at the University of the Witwatersrand and at Yale University before returning to South Africa, where she lectured in law and became legal advisor at People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA), a women’s rights organisation that provides both frontline and advocacy services. Fedler’s debut novel, The Dreamcloth, was nominated for South Africa’s Sunday Times Fiction Prize in 2006, while Secret Mothers’ Business was on the 2008 Der Spiegel bestseller list. Now a full-time author and writing mentor, Fedler works with aspiring female authors to help them find their voices through the power of writing.

Qaqamba Gubanca was born in Ngcobo, South Africa. She works as a mentor mother at the Philani Maternal Child Health and Nutrition Trust in Khayelitsha township in Cape Town, South Africa. The Philani Clinic provides holistic health and nutrition support to women and families in townships; its Mentor Mother programme has been extended to South Africa’s Eastern Cape, as well as to Swaziland and Ethiopia. Gubanca is living with HIV.

Zelda la Grange was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. She completed a three-year executive-secretary diploma at the University of Technology, Pretoria, in 1992. In 1994, she became assistant to the private secretary of South Africa’s first democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela; in 1997, she herself became one of the president’s private secretaries. Following President Mandela’s retirement from the presidency in 1999 until his death in 2013, la Grange served him in various capacities, including as executive personal assistant, spokesperson, aide-de-camp and manager of his private office. In 2014, she published her bestselling memoir, Good Morning, Mr Mandela.

Ronni Kahn was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. She emigrated to Israel in 1970 and then to Australia in 1988. In 1994, she founded event-planning business Ronni Kahn Event Designs. In 2004, Kahn founded the food-rescue charity OzHarvest and was instrumental in changing legislation that had prevented potential food donors from donating their excess food. In 2010, Kahn was named Australia’s Local Hero at the Australian of the Year Awards, and in 2012, she was awarded the Tribute Award for Innovation, Entrepreneurial Skill and Contribution to the Community at the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Awards.

Gail Kelly was born in Pretoria, South Africa. She began her banking career in South Africa in 1980, before moving to Australia in 1997. In 2002, Kelly became the first female chief executive officer (CEO) of a top fifteen ASX-listed company – St. George Bank. In 2007, Kelly was appointed CEO of Westpac Group. Since retiring from Westpac in 2015, Kelly has been engaged in a variety of roles, including with CARE Australia, an international organisation that works to combat global poverty, with a particular focus on the empowerment of women and girls.

Zaziwe Manaway was born in Mbabane, Swaziland. She holds a bachelor of science in psychology from Clark Atlanta University in the United States. The firstborn granddaughter of Nelson Mandela and Nomzamo Nobandla Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, she is Director of the Long Walk to Freedom line of products.

Zoleka Mandela was born in Soweto, South Africa. She is the founder of the Zoleka Mandela Foundation and of the Zenani Mandela Campaign for road-safety awareness. Mandela is also an ambassador for the global SaveKidsLives road-safety organisation, and the author of the autobiographical “When Hope Whispers”. She is the granddaughter of Nelson Mandela and Nomzamo Nobandla Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

Nokwanele Mbewu was born in Cala, South Africa. She manages the Mentor Mother Programme at the Philani Maternal Child Health and Nutrition Trust in Khayelitsha township in Cape Town, South Africa. The Philani Clinic provides holistic health and nutrition support to women and families in townships; its Mentor Mother Programme has been extended to South Africa’s Eastern Cape, as well as to Swaziland and Ethiopia.

Hlubi Mboya Arnold was born in Alice in Eastern Cape, South Africa. She is best known for her role in the South African Broadcasting Corporation drama Isidingo, in which she portrayed the long-running show’s first HIV-positive character. Mboya Arnold is a social-justice activist, a social-entrepreneurship advocate, a sportswoman, an educator and a scholar, and is an executive director of two not-for-profit organisations: Future CEOs, which supports South Africans whose socioeconomic circumstances exclude them from accessing top business education and professional development opportunities; and Sunshine Cinema, a solar-powered mobile cinema that converts solar energy into social impact.

Shanthie Naidoo was born in Pretoria, South Africa. She played an important role in the struggle against apartheid, being active in the Transvaal Indian Youth Congress and later the Federation of South African Women and the African National Congress (ANC). In 1969 she was arrested along with Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and other ANC members; she was interrogated and tortured for information on ANC activity and detained for 371 days. Naidoo spent 19 years in exile.

Masako Osada was born in Shimonoseki, Japan. She holds a PhD in international relations from the University of the Witwatersrand and was founding programme director of the Centre for Japanese Studies, University of Pretoria. A writer, translator and visual and martial artist, her first book, Sanctions and Honorary Whites – an analysis of diplomatic ties between Japan and apartheid South Africa – was published in 2002. Osada has hosted eight solo exhibitions of her visual art, and teaches tai chi and Ryukyu kobujutsu. A committed environmentalist, Osada is an adviser to the not-for-profit, Tears of the African Elephant.

Ingrid le Roux was born in a small town north of Stockholm, Sweden. A medical doctor, she moved to South Africa with her husband in 1972. Le Roux is the founder and medical director of the Philani Maternal Child Health and Nutrition Trust in Khayelitsha township in Cape Town, South Africa. Philani provides holistic health and nutrition support to women and families in townships; its Mentor Mother programme has been extended to South Africa’s Eastern Cape, as well as to Swaziland and Ethiopia.

Caster Semenya OIB was born in Ga-Masehlong, South Africa. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sports science from the University of Pretoria. A professional middle-distance runner, she is an 800-metre-event world champion and a two-time Olympic gold medallist. Through the Caster Semenya Foundation, Semenya trains and assists young athletes, and supports campaigns to distribute menstrual cups to disadvantaged South African girls, supporting them to remain in school during their menstrual cycles. In 2014, Semenya was granted the bronze Order of Ikhamanga by the South African government for her achievements in sports.

Nomvula Sikhakhane was born in Katlehong, South Africa. From the age of six, Sikhakhane was abused by her stepfather. Later, while living with her grandmother, Sikhakhane met Sahm Venter and Claude Colart, who became her unofficial guardians. A graduate of the HTA School of Culinary Art, Sikhakhane now works as a chef.

Gillian Slovo was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and now lives in London. She is a novelist and playwright, and her verbatim plays include the 2017 drama Another World – a look at why Western youth would join Islamic State. Her fourteen published books include Ice Road, which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction; Red Dust, which is set around a hearing of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and was made into a film starring Hilary Swank and Chiwetel Ejiofor; and her family memoir, Every Secret Thing, which tells the story of life with her parents, South African activists Joe Slovo and Ruth First.

June Steenkamp was born in Blackburn, England, and moved to South Africa in 1965. In 2013, Steenkamp’s daughter, Reeva Steenkamp, was shot and killed by Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, who had been dating Reeva for several months. Pistorius was later convicted of Reeva’s murder. In 2015, Steenkamp established the Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp Foundation to educate and empower women and children against violence and abuse.

Mpho Tutu van Furth was born in London, England. She is a preacher, teacher, writer and retreat facilitator, and is an Episcopal priest. Shortly after her marriage to Marceline van Furth in 2016, she handed in her licence to officiate in the South African Anglican church, as it does not permit its priests to marry same-sex partners. Tutu van Furth is canonically resident in the USA. She is the daughter of anti-apartheid activists Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Leah Tutu. Tutu van Furth was the founding director of the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting projects and initiatives that promote peace and reconciliation for the flourishing of people and the planet.

Sahm Venter was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. As a journalist for more than twenty years, her career focussed on covering the anti-apartheid struggle and South Africa’s transition to democracy. Venter worked as the senior researcher at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, and she was a member of the editorial team for Nelson Mandela’s bestselling Conversations With Myself. She co-edited 491 Days: Prisoner Number 1323/69 by Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, and co-authored Conversations With a Gentle Soul with the late Ahmed Kathrada. Venter and her partner, Claude Colart, are unofficial guardians of Nomvula Sikhakhane.