Bonang Matheba, Naledi Chirwa, Zozibini Tunzi, Saray Khumalo and Mandisa Mfeka - these five women slew 2019 with big moves, impressive victories and, in some cases, made history.
It's been a difficult year for SA women with so many cases of abuse and femicide, but these five women inspired and spread hope.
1. Zozibini Tunzi:
Zozibini Tunzi was crowned Miss SA on a significant day for South African women, August 9, National Women's Day, and used the stage to share her views on women abuse and gender-based violence.Tunzi said: “We have absolutely no reason to keep smiling because South African women are dying every day and most people are doing nothing about it. It is not up to us, it’s up to perpetrators to start doing right.”
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| From Mandisa Mfeka to Zozibini Tunzi - Five Women Who Slayed 2019 |
2. Bonang Matheba:
All-round media personality Bonang Matheba made 2019 the year she ventured into business by launching her House of BNG brut methode cap classique (MCC) and a brut rose MCC, which is SA's equivalent to champagne. |
| Bonang Matheba attends the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 at FNB Stadium on December 2, 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100) |
Since its launch, House of BNG has graced Prince Kaybee's music video as well as some of the country's biggest events, including President Cyril Ramaphosa's inauguration, became the official Miss SA celebration partner and a Vodacom Durban July partner, to name just a few.
3. Saray Khumalo:
After four attempts at climbing Mount Everest, Saray Khumalo finally made history by becoming the first black African woman to conquer the mountain. Speaking about her desire to achieve the unthinkable, Khumalo said, “My dream is to go higher and go further for as long as I breathe. To pave a way for my children and other ordinary people, so we may realise and accept that ordinary people like us can achieve extraordinary heights,” reported TimesLIVE. |
| South African climber Saray Khumalo speaks to AFP in an interview in Kathmandu on May 23, 2019, after her record-breaking climb to be the first black African woman to summit Everest. - The business executive who became the first black African woman to climb Mount Everest said on May 22 that knowing her climb would be in the record books helped her push on to the top. (Photo by Bikash KARKI / AFP) (Photo credit should read BIKASH KARKI/AFP via Getty Images) |
4. Naledi Chirwa:
Naledi Chirwa is the EFF's youngest female MP.She rose to prominence in 2015 during the height of the fees must fall protests, during which activists advocated for free higher education for poor students. In 2016, Chirwa was arrested while she was studying drama at the University of Pretoria, where she was later suspended.
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| Naledi Chirwa, a representative of the Economic Freedom Fighters in the South African Assembly, during the International Social Forum hosted by the Labour Party at the SOAS University of London in central London. (Photo by Kirsty O'Connor/PA Images via Getty Images) |
Chirwa also raised the issue of equality and inclusion of women in the political and economic spheres.
5. Mandisa Mfeka:
On May 25, South Africans were introduced to Major Mandisa Mfeka, SA's first black female combat fighter pilot. Mfeka's participation in Ramaphosa's inauguration may have seen her become an overnight sensation, but she had been flying over our skies for a number of years.She joined the South African Air Force (SAAF) in 2008, and enrolled at the Central Flying School in Langebaan, Western Cape, and received her licence in 2011.
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