Tag: Empowerment

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to authentic, energetic and ever passionate Rami Chuene, who wears several professional caps – successful actress, singer, author and philanthropist to name a few. She takes us back in time, twenty-five years ago, to the moment that the entertainment bug bit and released her creative aspirations. Rami gives a reality check on some of the practicalities of the entertainment industry, what it means to be a freelancer, taking ownership of your creative work and minimising exploitation. We discuss stories from her memoir, “We Kissed the Sun and Embraced the Moon”, which covers impactful moments in her life, everything from bedwetting to rising above sexual abuse and becoming victorious. In 2020 Rami, launched the Rami Chuene Foundation, whose mantra is “Do Good Where You Are” and she unpacks this philosophy showing how people can help one another with what they have in the present. Energy in all forms can be a powerful multiplier of positive benefits. Tune in for more…

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January 13, 2023

Rami Chuene – Actress, Singer, Author and Philanthropist

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to authentic, energetic and ever passionate Rami Chuene, who wears several professional caps – successful actress, singer, author and philanthropist...

Welcome to Womanity Women in Unity, this is our final broadcast of 2022, and we use this show to share some of the lessons learned from female leaders about leadership. Our first guest in this feature is the Vice President of the Republic of Zambia, Mutale Nalumango, who is also the Vice President of Zambia’s ruling party, the United Party for National Development.  Vice President Nalumango shares how her life path has been navigated by the drive to fight all forms of injustice, like social inequity, poverty alleviation, access to justice and empowering women to occupy their rightful spaces. She also reaffirms that education is the greatest equalizer and reminds those that think education is too expensive to try the cost of ignorance. There is an underrepresentation of female CEOs on listed companies in South Africa, but the women who hold these posts have a great sense of purpose to show that women CEOs are tremendous assets to any organisation and realise that through mentorship more women will rise to the top of corporate hierarchies. Our next guest is the CEO of the Clicks Group, Bertina Engelbrecht. She sees the role of leaders as removing obstacles that stand in the way of people’s performance, providing the resources for people to do their jobs well and motivating them to derive solutions for themselves. On the topic of education Ms Englebrecht notes that education empowers people and is a way of reaffirming and building confidence; furthermore, when a girl child is educated her life and her family’s changes for the better. Our last guest is the CEO of Anglo American Platinum, Natascha Viljoen, who also sits on the Anglo American Platinum Board and the Group Management Committee of Anglo American PLC.  She reflects on factors that led to her career in mining from getting “the smell of the place” as a child going on site trips with her father, who worked on gold mines and drawing on this energy, to a love of science and math which fuelled her interest in a technical career, specifically in mining. She notes that women introduce different perspectives, which in turn reshapes the workplace, contributes to diversity and innovation. We hope that this selection of leaders inspires you to own your journeys. You have been listening to Womanity Women in Unity, best wishes for the festive season. Be Safe.

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December 28, 2022

2022 Women leaders: Inspiring you to own your journey

Welcome to Womanity Women in Unity, this is our final broadcast of 2022, and we use this show to share some of the lessons learned from female leaders about leadership. Our first guest in this feature is the Vice Presid...

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Delmaine Christians who represents the Democratic Alliance party in parliament and is a member of the select committee on education and technology, sports, arts and culture (NCOP Committee) and the select committee on Health Social and Services (NCOP Committee) We discuss her journey into politics from the education sector, which laid a strong foundation for her role in parliament. Playing an oversight role in local, provincial and national processes to identify faults in the current system and finding solutions to resolve challenges. For instance, the knock-on effect electricity cuts (loadshedding) have on water access for the Dikgatlong community in the Northern Cape province. We discuss the economic cost of gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa as well as the social and psychological damage it causes to victims. Although government has allocated funding to address GBV not enough is being done to curb it, including resources in the police, health and social services. Unfortunately, many women get lost in the system and do not receive appropriate care which impacts their recovery. Ms Christians considers education, grit, perseverance and developing a thick skin as some of the factors that contributed to her success. Tune in for more.

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November 23, 2022

Delmaine Christians – Member of Parliament representing the Democratic Alliance

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Delmaine Christians who represents the Democratic Alliance party in parliament and is a member of the select committee on education and technology, ...

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to the CEO of Clicks Group Bertina Engelbrecht. Clicks is a leading health and beauty retailer listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange with over 800 stores and more than 600 in-store pharmacies and a loyalty programme exceeding 9.7 million active members. Ms Engelbrecht shares some of her career milestones with local and multinational corporates and her three core building blocks of fairness, equity and justice. We remark on common challenges that women experience in the boardroom and solutions; from showing up as an effective contributor to making your voice heard through quality preparation. She sees the role of leaders as removing obstacles that stand in the way of people’s performance, providing the resources for people to do their jobs well and motivating them to derive solutions for themselves. There is an underrepresentation of female CEOs on listed companies, but the women who hold these posts have a great sense of purpose to show that women CEOs are tremendous assets to any organisation and realise that through mentorship more women will rise to the top of corporate hierarchies. On the topic of education Ms Englebrecht notes that education empowers people and is a way of reaffirming and building confidence; furthermore, when a girl child is educated her life and her family’s changes for the better. #Womeninleadership Tune in for more….

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November 3, 2022

Bertina Engelbrecht – CEO Clicks Group: Women leading from the front

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to the CEO of Clicks Group Bertina Engelbrecht. Clicks is a leading health and beauty retailer listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange with over 800...

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Dr. Mimmy Martha Gondwe, who is a member of parliament representing the Democratic Alliance and member of the Portfolio Committee of Public Service as well as Administration and the Joint Constitutional Review Committee. Dr. Gondwe refers to herself as a reluctant politician. She is driven to make a difference in people’s lives and veered from law to politics as the vehicle that could deliver meaningful impact on people. We discuss the importance of women playing active roles in politics from voting to participating in political structures. Political decisions have economic consequences which affect the lives of women, and thus its vital that their voices are heard, especially since they represent more than fifty percent of the population. We acknowledge that gender inequalities still exist and mention patriarchy as an impediment to progress. However, we consider that through socialisation, shifting mindsets, gender sensitivity training, changing legislative frameworks and education as mechanisms to reduce inequality and enable women to play their full roles in society. Dr. Gondwe emphasises the power of education in the hands of women, reflecting that you don’t have the choice of which family you are born into or the economic circumstances that you are brought up in, but education helps women make the right choices for themselves to become the person they want to be and build the lives they envisioned. Tune in for more…

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October 5, 2022

Dr. Mimmy Martha Gondwe – Democratic Alliance Member of Parliament and Member of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Dr. Mimmy Martha Gondwe, who is a member of parliament representing the Democratic Alliance and member of the Portfolio Committee of Public Service ...

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Ms Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba, who is a member of parliament representing the African National Congress (ANC) and Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education. This committee conducts oversight and monitors the work that the executive is doing. We highlight some of the core focus areas of the Department of Basic Education in 2022/2023, notably the shift of early childhood development from the Department of Social Development to the Department of Basic Education, the Department’s Programme 5 – to end school related gender based violence (GBV), and building strategic relationships in the international arena. We consider some of the factors that contribute to building female leadership capacity through economic and education mechanisms. The more educated women become the more the country benefits - socially, economically and otherwise. Ms Mbinqo-Gigaba reminds us that “It doesn’t matter how you come, just make sure you arrive”. Tune in for more…

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September 28, 2022

ANC Parliamentarian & Chairperson of Portfolio Committee on Basic Education – Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Ms Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba, who is a member of parliament representing the African National Congress (ANC) and Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee ...

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Dr Jyoti Bajpai, a Professor of Medical Oncology at the Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai India and Dr Nermean Mostafa a lecturer of clinical oncology and early detection at the Ain Shams University in Cairo Egypt. They share some of their motivations for pursuing oncology as a specialisation and give an overview of the field in their countries. For example, Egypt has an intensive screening campaign for early detection of cancer and is improving palliative care. India has a population of more than 1.4 billion people and has wide variations in the type of care and infrastructure available to citizens, however there is a marked deficit of oncologists to cancer patients, currently the ratio stands at 1:2000, whereas in the USA it is 1:100. We note some of the challenges female oncologists experience, which often stem from social stereotypes and patriarchal cultures that limit people’s perceptions of women reducing them to mothers and care givers, not seeing them as professionals who excel in their chosen fields. Our discussion centres on the recent Global Women for Oncology Summit (GLOWS) which received delegates from every continent. GLOWS addressed pressing issues faced by women in their careers, such as how to navigate politics in the workplace, how to break the glass ceiling, the importance of #networking and the value of #mentorship and #sponsorship. We discuss distance mentorship, as a concept implemented through digital platforms to provide mentorship between women in different regions. Some of the benefits of this mode of mentorship for women include saving on travel expenses like accommodation or visas, the ability to remain at home and maintain family responsibilities, and connecting to the right mentor irrespective of geographic location. Tune in for more…

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September 21, 2022

Oncology Specialists Prof. Jyoti Bajpai (India) & Dr Nermean Mostafa (Egypt)

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Dr Jyoti Bajpai, a Professor of Medical Oncology at the Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai India and Dr Nermean Mostafa a lecturer of clinical oncology ...

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to the Vice President of the Republic of Zambia - Mutale Nalumango, who is also Vice President of Zambia’s ruling party the United Party for National Development (UPND). Vice President Nalumango shares how her life path has been navigated by the drive to fight all forms of injustice, like social inequity, poverty alleviation, access to justice and empowering women to occupy their rightful spaces. She shares some of her visions for Zambia where unity and peace serve as foundational elements to development and productivity. She also reaffirms that education is the greatest equalizer and reminds those that think education is too expensive to try the cost of ignorance. We discuss women in leadership and mechanisms to better capacitate women, such as mentorship, effective networking, higher education, encouraging women to rise and also aligning men to the gender agenda – to acknowledge that they are beneficiaries of women’s economic participation. Although efforts are underway to progress the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 5 – Gender Equality progress is slow in some areas of the continent. Some of the impediments to women’s progress include inhibiting cultures, religious expectations, social stereotypes and bearing the burden of unpaid domestic work. In the words of Vice President Nalumango, “Women are born as volunteers.” Women need to unite and collectively fight against injustices that discriminate against them. Women cannot let their life choices depend on other people; they have the capability to achieve their ambitions. In closing, Vice President Nalumango says, “Girls, rise up wherever you are, the sky is the limit, you can make it anywhere, everything is open to us in Africa”. Tune in for more…

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August 31, 2022

Vice President of Zambia – Mutale Nalumango striving for social justice, unity and equality

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to the Vice President of the Republic of Zambia - Mutale Nalumango, who is also Vice President of Zambia’s ruling party the  United Party for Na...

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, in commemoration of the 46th anniversary of the 16 June 1976 student uprising in Soweto, South Africa, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to the Director General of the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD) - Advocate Mikateko Joyce Maluleke. The theme of this year’s youth month is “Promoting sustainable livelihoods and resilience of young people for a better tomorrow”. Almost two-thirds of the South African population are under the age of 35. Advocate Maluleke shares some of the programmes that the department has initiated to help address the challenges confronted by youth. For example, the Nelson Mandela Youth dialogues on ethical leadership promoting peace, reconciliation and democracy; fostering stronger relationships between countries in Africa to embrace the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to improve intra-continental trade and socio-economic outcomes; work with the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) and initiating a programme to help unemployed graduates find gainful employment in their field of study. In terms of specific initiatives for women, the Director General discusses the goals of the Women Economic Assembly (WECONA), which is a partnership between the private sector, civil society and women’s organisations, businesswomen and government that aims to facilitate the participation of women-owned businesses in core areas of the economy. In keeping with the economic empowerment of women, the DWYPD is planning to establish the biggest market expo in the world on 9 August 2022, which will bring together 90,000 women to connect, collaborate and contract to win. Tune in for more….

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June 22, 2022

Advocate Mikateko Joyce Maluleke – Director General of the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, in commemoration of the 46th anniversary of the 16 June 1976 student uprising in Soweto, South Africa, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to the Director General of the Department of Wo...

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, in our series on women in law, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Prof. Caroline Ncube who heads up the Department of Commercial Law at the University of Cape Town. She holds the South African Research Chair in Intellectual Property, Innovation and Development. She serves as a member of the African Policy, Research & Advisory Group on STI, is a member of the Advisory Board of the African Network of International Economic Law (AfIELN) and of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf). We discuss how these roles contribute to the discipline of law in both academia and practice; and note some of the accomplishments of women in the field of law. Some of Prof. Ncube’s collaborations with Kenya, Nigeria and Egypt form part of the Open African Innovation Research Partnerships. One of her recent projects addresses patents and access to medicines during the Covid-19 pandemic. We discuss the liberating effects of education on women. Prof. Ncube reflects on the influence of gender in personal and professional life, where the perception of traditional gender roles can inhibit some women from advancing in their careers until their children are less dependent on them. Establishing childcare facilities at institutions, formulating robust support networks and reconsidering gender roles are a few interventions that could help women navigate various stages of their personal and professional lives. In closing Prof. Ncube reminds us that the hopes of the continent are pinned on women and youth; so if you are young and female the moment is yours, the continent is wide open reach out and take it. Tune in for more…

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June 8, 2022

Prof. Caroline Ncube – Head Commercial Law Department – University of Cape Town

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, in our series on women in law, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Prof. Caroline Ncube who  heads up the Department of Commercial Law at the University of Cape Town. She holds t...

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