In commemoration of Women’s Month, the Gender Forum recently hosted a Celebration of Phenomenal Women at the Coastlands Hotel and Conference Centre in Musgrave.

In attendance at the event was the Executive Dean in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Professor Gugu Mchunu, Chairperson of the Gender Forum, Dr Rosaline Govender, Vice-Chairperson of the Gender Forum, Lindiwe Mtsweni, Third-year National Diploma Internal Auditing student, and international performing musician, Nomvula Maneli, Poetry artist and theatre practitioner, Thembelihle Shezi, multidisciplinary artist, Ayanda Nxumalo, Virgin Active trainer, Lady Fair Mngadi, keynote speaker, CJ Benjamin, guest speaker, FNB’s Daya Govender, Treasurer of the Gender Forum, Dr Rekha Maniram, Gender Forum members and external stakeholders.

Explaining the context of the event to the guests, the Vice-chairperson of the Gender Forum, Miss Mtsweni who relayed that the Gender Forum did not only cater for women but also for men who are also in the Forum. She then spoke on the significance behind Women’s Day which marks the anniversary of the great women’s march of 1956, where women marched to the Union Buildings to protest against the carrying of pass books.

Mtsweni spoke on the dynamic role that Dr Govender plays as the Chair of the Gender Forum.

Explaining the context of the event and what it is all about was Nomvula Manela, who served as the second Programme Director.

She also said that women are phenomenal species and that they embody diplomatic characteristics because by nature they are strategic, tactful and are conflict resolvers.

“Women are the one people that understand their purpose and without a purpose you are just a wind that is blowing, so if anything in this engagement what we are hoping to get from each and every women is people who will really live their lives following the purpose that they are given. We fail to do that because we are rushing for academic excellence, to have a huge house and cars and we forget the purpose that God has created us for,” she said.

Giving her official welcome address, Dr Govender expressed her excitement to have so many guests in attendance at the event.

“We have all made it through COVID and thank God for his blessings upon each one of you seated in this room.  It has been a tough time for all of us,” she said.

She then introduced the hard-working members who are at the forefront of the Gender Forum EXCO and the roles each member plays in it. She then spoke of the vision of the Gender Forum which is to strive towards gender equity through transformative thinking and action.

“That is what we are here to do, to transform the way that we think. We will also transform the way that we act and through the planning and execution of all our events we aim to achieve the transformation in a way that we as Gender Forum members think of ourselves, of others and the world around us,” she said.

She explained that all the phenomenal women in the room have changed their circumstances, adding that life was taking all phenomenal women to a particular end and they have changed the trajectory of their lives.

“We have come so far but we still got a journey to go on and when we start losing our identity, we actually start silencing our voices and the voice is the only thing that we have that is ours,” she said.

Dr Maniram then introduced the keynote speaker, CJ Benjamin who is an award winning talk show host and motivational speaker.

She relayed that she has received numerous awards and accolades including the 2020 Women of Wonder Award, 2020 Influential Women of the Year and 2021 Women Empowerment Leader in recognition of her public service.

“She is passionate about youth and women empowerment as she inspires them to make better choices. She currently hosts empowerment talks on Glow TV and across all social media platforms with the aim of motivating and uplifting all South Africans,” she said.

CJ Benjamin thanked DUT’s Gender Forum for inviting her to speak at such a phenomenal event.

She then spoke on the most phenomenal women that she knows, her mom, Selvie Benjamin, a victim of abuse.

She explained that her mother was battered and abused and a victim of poverty.

“I come from a home of substance abuse, I come from a home where my mother was beaten, I come from a home where the electricity was disconnected all the time. I come from a home where everybody knew who we were not because of what we had but because of what we were going through,” she said.

CJ Benjamin expressed that her mom rewrote her destiny for her and her two sisters, saying that they were not destined to mount to anything, according to society.

“I remember in our home that I used to count the slices of bread every night and somebody went to bed hungry and that someone was my mother, that’s what phenomenal women do. They sacrifice for their children,” she added.

CJ Benjamin conveyed that her mother believed in her in every step of her career path.

“When I think of my mother’s sacrifice I always wonder if I have the same resilience, we look to role models in celebrities, in icons, we look to Kylie Jenner’s and Beyoncé’s of this world; we call them mama and they live right in our homes, these are ones that we stand on the shoulders of. When I celebrate your theme I celebrate every mother that is gone without so that we could be who we are today,” she said proudly.

Benjamin urged women to start fighting for what they believe in, to start working towards what one wants.

“There is no difference between you and I. I don’t have some magical gift that separates you and I. We are the same, we women, we have so much to offer and I pray that I will be reading about you and listening to you and hearing wonderful things about you,” she concluded.

The vote of thanks was delivered by the Secretary of the Gender Forum, Miss Ronelle Lyson, who had been allocated the privilege to extend a note of thanks to people/organisations/faculties who contributed in some way or other way to ensure the success of the event. She mentioned the Gender Forum’s gratitude to the service provider Coastlands for their professionalism and competent staff. The Gender Forum EXCO also thanked the donors and sponsors, Faculty of Accounting and Informatics, Faculty of Applied Science, Faculty of Management Sciences, Department of Somatology, Coastlands Hotel and Conference Centre, Kantu Wellness Products, DUT Advancement and Alumni Relations Office, DUT stores, Bidvest and FNB.

“I would like to make my final thank you. We see you as phenomenal woman. We see your passion, dedication, loyalty and drive to your commitment to the Gender Forum,” she said.

Pictured: CJ Benjamin with the Gender Forum team at the event.

Waheeda Peters