The Management College of Southern Africa (MANCOSA) held its Annual Women’s Day event on Friday 19th August 2016 at the Mancosa [GSB]. The event was themed: “The Empowered African Woman” where African heritage was celebrated by staff dressing in different types of African attire. In acknowledgement of the theme, a number of emerging female entrepreneurs were encouraged to promote and sell their handmade products at MANCOSA’s pop-up stores. The main event initiated with a welcome Waka Waka dance by a group of female employees, where the guests were encouraged to dance along to the music. This was followed by a welcome address by Mr Kevashan Ethiraju, Master of Ceremony, and an opening remark by Mr Hashim Bobat, MANCOSA’s Marketing Director.
The guest speech was delivered by Natalie Ogden, a representative from Red Light which is an anti-human trafficking organisation. Ms Ogden described the work carried out by Red Light which includes creating awareness in local schools and communities, night outreaches in red light areas and reintegrating survivors and women-at-risk back into society. In cognisance of the fact that women in South Africa are generally at higher risk of being sexually and physically assaulted, self-defence demonstrations were given by David Verster, a renowned self-defence instructor, from Lion’s Den Mixed Martial Arts Gym.
Tebogo Petlele, founder of Seponono Head Scarves, gave a motivational talk about her journey towards becoming an acknowledged and successful entrepreneur and encouraged the ladies present to follow their dreams. An inspirational talk was later given by Dr Claudine Hingston, Head of MANCOSA’s Centre for Women Leadership. In her talk, Dr Hingston shared her story about the challenges she had faced in life, particularly, in her home country Sierra Leone and how she managed to overcome them successfully.
Interspersed in the programme, were demonstrations by Kate Coleby, MANCOSA’s Training Officer, on how to create a load shedding survival kit as well as how to make a fondant rose when decorating a cake. The programme ended with a vote of thanks by Ziningi Malinga, MANCOSA’s HR officer, followed by a scrumptious lunch. The programme was filled with lucky draws, best dressed awards and surprise gifts.
