Women’s Month celebration a high note
Women’s Month celebration a high note
Guest speaker of the event: Miss Marah Louw
Qhawekazi Memani
This year’s Women’s Month celebration, hosted at the Quest Conference Centre on 3 August under the theme: ‘The woman in me’, proved to be a very pleasant one.
A number of women from all walks of life who work at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) attended, including the Vice-Chancellor’s wife: Mrs Nomalizo Zide and the chancellor’s wife: Mrs Bongiwe Mkhwanazi. Kimberly Coetzee, Executive administrator: Academic and Research, opened the occasion with her cheerful dance moves to commemorate the brave women who marched to the Union Buildings over 60 years ago.
In her message of support, Mrs Mkhwanazi said: “Women are phenomenal; women of substance. I am grateful there’s a month honouring people who make things happen. I am proud to see that VUT honours women.”
“We are imbokodo, rise women rise,” she chanted.
The guest speaker was the internationally acclaimed Miss Marah Louw who has received many accolades throughout her singing and acting career. This year she celebrates 50 years in show business. Her speech, which was accompanied by songs and dancing, kept the women on their feet. She emphasised how humbled she is to be part of the VUT women’s month celebration.
Staff enjoying themselves as Ms Marah Louw entertained
“As someone who has been in the show business for quite a long time, nothing comes easy in life, no one is doing you a favour to be where you are, fight for what you want and be strong,” she said.
She said it is also important for women to know that, despite her success, she has experienced many forms of abuse. However, because she is strong she survived it and is growing older gracefully. She has written about her experiences in a book, It’s me Marah.
She shared a story of how she had endured abuse from a man she had loved for 11 years – to the point where she lost some of her teeth and on another incident ducked a spear.
Having survived this, she then got married to a man who also abused her.
She posed the question: “What makes us ladies stay in abusive relationships?”
Hers ended when she made the decision that enough was enough. She urged women not to stay in abusive relationships.
Miss Coetzee closed off the occasion with a fitting Maya Angelou quote: “Each time a woman stands up for herself, she stands up for all women.”