The FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit which was hosted the by KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government took place on International Women’s Day (Friday, 08 March) at Durban’s Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre. 



Full list of winners | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Leading Women Summit award winners (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS_Winnerboards_Twitter.pdf" target="_blank">Leading Women Summit award winners</a> 



<ul class="wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="533" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS16.jpg" alt="" data-id="39660" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=39660" class="wp-image-39660" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS16.jpg 800w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS16-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS16-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS16-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption>Naomi Campbell. Picture: GABHISATV</figcaption></figure></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="562" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS18.jpg" alt="" data-id="39661" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=39661" class="wp-image-39661" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS18.jpg 800w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS18-300x211.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS18-600x422.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS18-768x540.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption>Saloni Wahi, Rakesh Wahi, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Roberta Naicker. Picture: GABHISATV</figcaption></figure></li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="750" height="600" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS11.jpg" alt="" data-id="39662" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=39662" class="wp-image-39662" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS11.jpg 750w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS11-300x240.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS11-600x480.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" /><figcaption> Managing Editor of FORBES AFRICA and FORBES WOMAN AFRICA, Methil Renuka. Picture: GABHISATV </figcaption></figure></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="533" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS14.jpg" alt="" data-id="39663" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=39663" class="wp-image-39663" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS14.jpg 800w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS14-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS14-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS14-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption> Noëlla Coursaris Musunka. Picture: GABHISATV </figcaption></figure></li></ul>



READ MORE about the New Wealth Creators | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Businesses Of The Future: 20 New Wealth Creators On The African Continent (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2019/03/11/the-businesses-of-the-future-20-new-wealth-creators-on-the-african-continent/" target="_blank">Businesses Of The Future: 20 New Wealth Creators On The African Continent</a>



The 2019 Leading Women Summit was a full-day event, with an audience of over 500 women.



<ul class="wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="654" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-1-1024x654.jpg" alt="" data-id="39650" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=39650" class="wp-image-39650" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-1.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-1-300x192.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-1-600x383.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-1-768x491.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Award winners at the 2019 FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Awards. Picture: GABHISATV</figcaption></figure></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="765" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-2-1024x765.jpg" alt="" data-id="39651" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=39651" class="wp-image-39651" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-2.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-2-300x224.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-2-600x448.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-2-768x574.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Judith Kepher-Gona, Uchenna Pedro, Arlene Mulder and Nosipho Mkhupheka. Picture: GABHISATV</figcaption></figure></li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-4 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="690" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-3-1024x690.jpg" alt="" data-id="39652" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=39652" class="wp-image-39652" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-3.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-3-300x202.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-3-600x404.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-3-768x518.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Hon Mr Sihle Zikalala, Saloni Wahi, Wendy Luhabe and Rakesh Wahi. Picture: GABHISATV</figcaption></figure></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="711" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-4-1024x711.jpg" alt="" data-id="39653" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=39653" class="wp-image-39653" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-4.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-4-300x208.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-4-600x417.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-4-768x533.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>eThekwini mayor, Zandile Gumede, congratulating an award winner. Picture: GABHISATV</figcaption></figure></li></ul>



The goal was to bring together leading, influential women to share their ideas that are idea-focused, and on a wide range of subjects, to foster learning, inspiration and wonder – and provoke conversations that matter. The 2019 theme for the event was the “New Wealth Creators”.



<ul class="wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-5 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="682" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS13-1024x682.jpg" alt="" data-id="39668" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=39668" class="wp-image-39668" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS13.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS13-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS13-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS13-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Forbes Woman Africa Cover Stars &#8211; The New Wealth Creators. Picture: GABHISATV</figcaption></figure></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="493" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS15.jpg" alt="" data-id="39669" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=39669" class="wp-image-39669" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS15.jpg 800w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS15-300x185.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS15-600x370.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS15-768x473.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption>Panel Discussion: The Blue Economy: New Wealth From African&#8217;s Ocean. Picture: GABHISATV</figcaption></figure></li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-6 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="657" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS17-1024x657.jpg" alt="" data-id="39666" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=39666" class="wp-image-39666" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS17.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS17-300x192.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS17-600x385.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS17-768x493.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Panel Discussion: South Africa&#8217;s Young Intellectuals. Picture: GABHISATV</figcaption></figure></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="533" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS19.jpg" alt="" data-id="39667" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=39667" class="wp-image-39667" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS19.jpg 800w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS19-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS19-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS19-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption>Panel Discussion: The Future Economy: How CEOs Can Lead Value Creation. Picture: GABHISATV</figcaption></figure></li></ul>



The <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="New Wealth Creators list (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2019/03/11/the-businesses-of-the-future-20-new-wealth-creators-on-the-african-continent/" target="_blank">New Wealth Creators list</a>, which is the first of its kind, was unveiled at the Summit. It is collection of female entrepreneurs on the African continent running businesses and social enterprises that are new, offbeat and radical. 



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Naomi Campbell: Africa Is One Of The Leading Continents In The World (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2019/03/08/naomi-campbell-africa-is-one-of-the-leading-continents-in-the-world/" target="_blank">Naomi Campbell: Africa Is One Of The Leading Continents In The World</a>



<ul class="wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-7 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="960" height="768" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-7.jpg" alt="" data-id="39656" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=39656" class="wp-image-39656" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-7.jpg 960w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-7-300x240.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-7-600x480.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-7-768x614.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" /><figcaption>Sonto Mayise (KZN Convention Burea) and Roberta Naicker (MD of the ABN Group). Picture: GABHISATV</figcaption></figure></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="923" height="613" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS10.png" alt="" data-id="39658" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=39658" class="wp-image-39658" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS10.png 923w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS10-300x199.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS10-600x398.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS10-768x510.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 923px) 100vw, 923px" /><figcaption>Renuka Methil and Salomi Wahi. Picture: GABHISATV</figcaption></figure></li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-8 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="682" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-61-1024x682.jpg" alt="" data-id="39671" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=39671" class="wp-image-39671" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-61.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-61-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-61-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-61-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="533" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS221.jpg" alt="" data-id="39672" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=39672" class="wp-image-39672" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS221.jpg 800w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS221-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS221-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS221-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></figure></li></ul>



READ MORE |<a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" Naomi Campbell Announced As Headline Speaker For The 2019 Forbes Woman Africa Leading Women Summit (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2019/02/07/naomi-campbell-announced-as-headline-speaker-for-the-2019-forbes-woman-africa-leading-women-summit/" target="_blank"> Naomi Campbell Announced As Headline Speaker For The 2019 Forbes Woman Africa Leading Women Summit</a>



The Summit celebrated a host of female trailblazers, game-changers and pioneers in African business and society. 



Supermodel, philanthropist and cultural innovator, Naomi Campbell was the headline speaker among other global influencers in business, sport, science, entertainment and leadership.



<ul class="wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-9 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="750" height="600" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS211.jpg" alt="" data-id="39674" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=39674" class="wp-image-39674" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS211.jpg 750w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS211-300x240.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS211-600x480.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" /><figcaption>Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, Former Miss South Africa and Miss Universe. Picture: GABHISATV</figcaption></figure></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="682" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-51-1024x682.jpg" alt="" data-id="39675" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=39675" class="wp-image-39675" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-51.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-51-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-51-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-51-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-10 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="511" height="768" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-10.jpg" alt="" data-id="39664" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=39664" class="wp-image-39664" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-10.jpg 511w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-10-300x451.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS-10-200x300.jpg 200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 511px) 100vw, 511px" /><figcaption>Nomfundo Gumele. Picture: GABHISATV</figcaption></figure></li><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="480" height="600" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS20.jpg" alt="" data-id="39665" data-link="https://www.forbesafrica.com/?attachment_id=39665" class="wp-image-39665" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS20.jpg 480w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS20-300x375.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/LWS20-240x300.jpg 240w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px" /><figcaption>Simidele Adeagbo, Winter Olympic Athlete. Picture: GABHISATV</figcaption></figure></li></ul>

Gugu-and-Naomi

IN PICTURES | Leading Women Summit 2019

FORBES WOMAN AFRICA To Be Digital-Only Product



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



For our fifth anniversary issue last year, I wrote with pride about the impact made by FORBES WOMAN AFRICA across the continent and while I reflected on the challenges that I had faced while launching the magazine, I also spoke about the value the magazine had created across the continent in showcasing stories of women that would otherwise never have been told. 



From the onset, there was significant scepticism from many quarters about the success of a business magazine focussed on women across Africa. I had thrown caution to the wind as my investment decisions are not only backed by pragmatic business sense but also made through belief and passion.



I quote a paragraph from my note in the September-November issue of FORBES WOMAN AFRICA last year.



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2019/03/01/the-most-defining-aspects-of-our-lives/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="The Most Defining Aspects Of Our Lives (opens in a new tab)">The Most Defining Aspects Of Our Lives</a>



“It has been a tumultuous journey as publishing in today’s world is not for the faint-hearted. The content has been simply fantastic and the magazine has risen to be the material of choice for inspirational stories. In the last five years, we have covered stories of exceptional women from all over Africa and showcased their great work in business, entrepreneurship and social development. 



We have discussed the trials and tribulations of women in the workplace and become a champion for equality.



The word ‘equality’ is a living value for us at the ABN Group and I am so proud that we have been able to personify our values through affirmative action.”



What has changed significantly over the last five years is a major transformation in the publishing business. The most radical change has been the complete shift in readership patterns and consequently advertising spend for niche publications. 



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2019/02/01/staying-with-the-narrative-of-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Staying With The Narrative Of Change (opens in a new tab)">Staying With The Narrative Of Change</a>



Our generation could not do without the morning newspaper or the pile of monthly must-read magazines. Families would make annual subscriptions to a variety of publications that catered to each member of the family.



Reading was in fashion.Our consumption patterns have changed. The new generation of cord-cutters have done away with the status quo; whether television or print, they want to have the ability to consume content on their own terms. 



This fragmentation is unprecedented and has changed the economic models in the industry. This has given rise to a new generation of web-based media organizations that have the ability to provide content in relevant and efficient capsules.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">It is time for us to start adapting to this need. </blockquote>



With the changing paradigms and focussing on the needs of our readers, it gives me great pleasure to announce that FORBES WOMAN AFRICA will be offered as a digital only platform with effect from April 2019. 



We will be bolstering this with a plethora of events, the first of which is the 2019 Leading Women Summit, on March 8, in Durban, South Africa.



We do expect to come out with occasional editions of the magazine to continue showcasing the journey of exceptional and inspirational women on the African continent.



-By Rakesh Wahi, Founder and Publisher of FORBES AFRICA

Rakesh Wahi

Adapting To The Times

Supermodel, Philanthropist, Activist and Cultural Innovator Naomi Campbell, will headline this year’s FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit, hosted by KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government, taking place at Durban’s Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre on International Women’s Day &#8211; Friday, 8 March.



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“We are truly honoured to be welcoming Naomi Campbell to the fourth
annual FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit,” commented Methil Renuka,
Managing Editor of FORBES AFRICA and FORBES WOMAN AFRICA, and host of this
year’s event. “Having established herself as a global powerhouse in fashion, Naomi
Campbell has used her fame to benefit vulnerable communities, with much of her
charity work also focused on the African continent. We look forward to engaging
with her at this year’s ‘New Wealth Creators’ summit.”



British-born Naomi Campbell was one of five
original supermodels that revolutionised the fashion industry during the 1990s.
Her work on the runway has seen her grace countless magazine covers, as well as
featuring in numerous television shows, music videos and films. Naomi Campbell has used her unique
position in the spotlight to draw attention to several international charities,
among them the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, Made in Africa Foundation,
amfAR, and Breast Health International. 



Her charity work started
alongside Nelson Mandela in 1993, with Madiba bestowing her the title of
‘Honorary Granddaughter’ for her ongoing activism. In 2005, Naomi Campbell established her own charity,
Fashion for Relief which has presented shows in New York, London, Cannes,
Moscow, Mumbai and Dar es Salaam, raising millions of dollars for various worthwhile
causes. 



Sihle Zikalala, the KwaZulu-Natal
Minister for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, said: “We
extend a warm welcome to this year’s headline speaker, Naomi Campbell. We look forward to engaging with her on topics
that will extend the positive impact women in this country, and on the
continent, are having globally. Her involvement in this event indicates the
calibre of this summit, and the strides being taken by African women. We are
proud to have been selected as the host venue for the fourth FORBES WOMAN
AFRICA Leading Women Summit as this gives us an opportunity to showcase the
incredible business opportunities and inviting natural beauty of the place we
call home.”



Attendees to the summit, hosted in association with the IDC, will get
the chance to engage with a selection of the continent’s most influential women
through keynote addresses, panel discussions and personal interviews. In
addition to the daytime networking, attendees to the summit are invited to the
FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Awards’ – a glamorous gala dinner celebrating those who
have made a remarkable impact in the business, sports, science, entertainment
and leadership categories. The gala dinner will take place at Durban’s Inkosi
Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre.



Ticket sales for this dynamic day are now open and includes full access
to the FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit from 7am to 4pm and the FORBES
WOMAN AFRICA Awards’ Gala Dinner. Tickets are limited so book now!



&#8211;For more information, visit <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="www.leadingwomensummit.co.za (opens in a new tab)" href="http://www.cvent.com/events/invitation-2019-forbes-woman-africa-leading-women-summit-and-awards-8-march-durban/event-summary-0282df9e080844008d92cc3319de7b9f.aspx" target="_blank">www.leadingwomensummit.co.za</a> or follow <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="@LWSummit (opens in a new tab)" href="https://twitter.com/LWSummit" target="_blank">@LWSummit</a> on various social media platforms (#LWS2019KZN).



-The FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit and the FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Awards’ Gala Dinner will be produced by ABN Event Productions.



-Picture: Laspata Decaro

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Naomi Campbell Announced As Headline Speaker For The 2019 Forbes Woman Africa Leading Women Summit

I was in Cape Town in early-2013 when I was reflecting on the progress we had made with FORBES AFRICA across the continent. A glaring gap was the number of stories about women entrepreneurs. The main reason was that as a startup magazine, FORBES AFRICA was overwhelmed with a waiting list of stories from 49 countries in sub-Saharan Africa; by virtue of women having a late head start in the business world, the stories were largely dominated by men who had done great things to transform Africa. To provide a platform, I decided to launch FORBES WOMAN AFRICA.
While emotions often get the better of me, I did, however, think that the idea had to be run by my fellow shareholders and senior management. After a fair amount of resistance, founded on pragmatic logic against the idea, I was able to get everyone to see my point of view. At the core of it was that there was a market gap for a magazine showcasing the success of inspirational women. The departure point from FORBES AFRICA was that FORBES WOMAN AFRICA was not about wealth but about influence; about the impact made by women in all walks of life and to bring forth stories that would otherwise never be told in FORBES AFRICA.
Having overcome the scepticism of my Board, the next decision was the choice of editor. A woman I admired and who was doing a show with us on CNBC Africa was Karima Brown. She gladly took up the challenge and FORBES WOMAN AFRICA was launched with a lot of fanfare with Precious Motsepe on our first cover. A few months later, after giving birth to the magazine, Karima moved to pursue another opportunity. I was at a loose end.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/entrepreneurs/2018/07/23/how-cnbc-africa-plans-to-go-digital/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: How CNBC Africa Plans To Go Digital</a>
However, it was at a dinner I hosted in October 2013, that my banker sister-in-law, Shalini Mehta, invited a friend to join us. This friend was Renuka Methil. In my book, Be a Lion, I have said “meeting people is for a reason”; chance meetings are not coincidences but in our stars. Often, we miss these signs; however, for Renuka and us, this dinner meeting was a blessing and met the intended consequences of our stars. She was appointed Editor of FORBES WOMAN AFRICA by my son, Sid Wahi, who is the CEO of ABN Publishing.
It has been a tumultuous journey as publishing in today’s world is not for the fainthearted. The content has been simply fantastic and the magazine has risen to be the material of choice for inspirational stories. In the last five years, we have covered stories of exceptional women from all over Africa and showcased their great work in business, entrepreneurship and social development. We have discussed the trials and tribulations of women in the workplace and become a champion for equality. The word ‘equality’ is a living value for us at the ABN Group and I am so proud that we have been able to personify our values through affirmative action.
As we move ahead on this journey, I have the privilege of announcing that our Group Managing Director, Roberta Naicker, was unanimously selected as the Business Woman of the Year 2018 at the prestigious Standard Bank event in August 2018. It’s a moment of pride and joy for our young business that is today led by extraordinary women who are building a media organization one brick at a time.
On our 5th anniversary, I take this opportunity to congratulate our team led by Renuka Methil on a fantastic magazine that they have raised and wish them the very best in the period ahead. Renuka has now taken over the reins of both FORBES AFRICA and FORBES WOMAN AFRICA and our editorial integrity is in safe hands.
To our readers and supporters, our appreciation for your encouragement, without which we would not have the motivation to plough ahead on this difficult journey. Thank you to all our advertisers, subscribers and those that have made this incredible magazine commercially stand on its feet. Finally, to my fellow shareholders and Board (Zafar Siddiqi, Sam Bhembe, Busi Mabuza, Roberta Naicker and Sid Wahi), gratitude for having believed in this project and having patiently given management the support and latitude to build something that we are all so proud of.
&#8211; Rakesh Wahi

Celebrating Five Years With The Founder & Publisher: Rakesh Wahi

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The Future In Her Hands

During her time away from Malawi, Joyce Banda served as a distinguished fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center in the United States, and has just finished writing a book, From Day One, on the issues around women and the girl child.
What are you looking forward to and how does it feel?
I am so happy I have done all I wanted to do and am going home. There’s much excitement in Malawi&#8230; I guess I am the only one not excited… It has been a week of hype and I am totally surprised and humbled because I didn’t know just how much Malawians love me.
We don’t have any female presidents on the continent at the moment… why are there so few women in politics?
Women’s leadership is under attack globally. Start from Australia, look at what happened to Julia Gillard. And you go to Thailand and look at what happened to the former Prime Minister… 
I’ve been speaking a lot in the US and the question I always ask is ‘tell me why [as] the oldest democracy for 200 years, [why] you have not managed to have one woman in state house’?
Coming back to Africa, we haven’t done badly, at least we had four women. We went to Beijing in 1995; we agreed that it was part of the work plan that we are going to come back and get into leadership. I remember asking Mrs Gertrude Mongella, who was the Secretary-General of the UN Fourth World Conference on Women, ‘because men are already sitting in the seats, how can we go to parliament?’ They said ‘go and push them if you have to’. And we went home, tried our level best and got into leadership.
In Africa, go one by one, and check how they left, go and see what Catherine Samba-Panza is going through in Central African Republic; see what is happening in Mauritius to our friend who just left a few weeks ago. So at the end of the day, you ask, why is it we don’t have any more female leaders in Africa? My answer is we have done well as a continent, we have found ways of getting our women into state house, but perhaps what we have to do is learn how to keep them there. And Africa hasn’t done badly.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2014/10/01/malawians-should-not-shed-blood/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: ‘Malawians Should Not Shed Blood’</a>
Somebody asked me, what can I say about feminism? I said ‘no, Africa shall have it all; it shall design its own because we can’t copy what’s happening elsewhere unless we are convinced it’s working there’. But how can we copy other models where women are still not getting equal pay, where women can’t even go on maternity leave, where for 200 years, there’s no female president? The continent with the highest number of women in parliament is Africa – three countries have 40% women in cabinet. And the time I was head of state, I took advantage of that position to appoint my fellow women… The advantage of us cutting into state house is we focus on social issues; we want people to have electricity, clean water and fuel every day. We want hospitals to have medicines, we want schools to have school materials but the challenge is how do we keep women in state house?
Is the patriarchal mind-set to blame?
It is. In fact I think the death of Mama Winnie Mandela and all that has been revealed these past weeks has opened the debate and women are sitting down and saying, ‘how could we not have seen?’ Because we never did… That’s what her daughter said when she spoke at the funeral: ‘why did you people wait until my mother is gone, to vindicate her?’ That is the kind of pain women are going through and nobody seems to care. I don’t know why the media doesn’t seem to dig more into this misogyny, and abuse to women leaders…
Do you have presidential ambitions again?
No. It is not up to me. I don’t care about going to state house… I am just going back home.
Are you returning to politics?
I am not planning anything. From this far, I don’t know the political landscape on the ground. I am highly experienced in politics. And I was very fortunate. When my husband retired [as chief justice], I decided I can enter politics. So I did at age 54, I was late… the president didn’t allow me to join the national executive committee so he sent me down to the grass roots. So I came from the grass roots as a treasurer in the village. I had the opportunity to study and I was fortunate when elected head of women in 2003 in my party…
What have you been up to in the last four years?
…In the time I have been away from home, I’ve spoken 37 times, received 12 international awards, written two papers, written a book, been appointed to five international awards and received an honorary doctorate. Everybody who has been with me in the US know I’ve run non-stop. It’s been time well spent. At the Woodrow Wilson Centre, they even assisted me to draw up a tool kit. I can now go into any country and speak with authority about how I feel women should be treated, how the space should be created at the table for women to participate in leadership.
In Malawi, what are your plans for women and children, through your foundation?
The Joyce Banda Foundation is bigger than Joyce Banda. I established it in 1997 when I received the Africa Prize so it cuts across all parties. It has 500,000 women beneficiaries in micro finance, it has sent to school 6,500 girls, it has a sponsorship program, and a youth program. We have five pillars in the Joyce Banda foundation: one is income, we believe that in the rural household if there is income the woman is in control and can provide better health and nutrition and even send girls to school and will also make decisions about her life; she can make choices to stay or leave an abusive place.
The second pillar is education for the girl child, because if she doesn’t go to school, then she is exposed to all harmful traditions. The third is maternal health. My research has shown that those that have died giving birth are between the ages of 11 to 19. So there is a connection with education. This girl child should go to secondary school. The four years in secondary school is not just about her future, it is also about her health.
The fourth pillar is leadership. I believe we must find ways; hence my research, find ways of allowing more and more women to enter politics and participate in leadership. And the last one is human rights which is a cross-cutting pillar.
What is the current investment climate in Malawi?
I believed the day I left office, I needed to step aside and look the other way. And provide an opportunity for the sitting president to freely show his capabilities. He is my president because I conceded and I accepted that he can become president, so the last thing that I want to is poke my nose into what he is doing right and not. 
I just feel sad and surprised when they say people are going 36 hours without electricity… I don’t understand some of the hardships my Malawians are facing because I say this boat is connected when you ask about the investment climate. There is nobody who is going to invest in a country that has 170MW of electricity. That doesn’t happen.
– Interviewed by Methil Renuka; for the full interview, visit www.cnbcafrica.com

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‘Women’s Leadership Is Under Attack Globally’

She came all the way for gold.
Akona Gwele, from a rural village named Qumbu in the sleepy innards of the Eastern Cape, a province in South Africa, arrived in Johannesburg, the city of gold, seeking opportunities she would have never found in her hometown.
Qumbu, formerly Transkei, is literally no man’s land. Young people, especially women, migrate to the cities looking for professional prospects other than nursing and teaching.
“I decided to come to Gauteng [South African province] because as the name says, it is known for being a place of gold; hence, I wanted to be closer to that gold. It promised more job opportunities and access to better education,” says Gwele.
The girl who, growing up, would fetch pails of water from the river for her household chores, went on to study electrical engineering at the Vaal University of Technology; and is today the owner of Westrand Safety, a supplier of personal protective equipment (PPE) gear to companies in South Africa.
She even imparts her signature, introducing color and style for the protective gear she designs for women in the male-dominated industries of construction, mining and engineering.
“More people are now asking for comfortable styles that will not look like work gear and we are open to creating this and making sure we set trends,” she says.
She founded the company in 2015 and is a finalist in the Eskom Business Investment Competition, which provides a platform for South African owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to become part of a community of like-minded entrepreneurs as they look to build their businesses.
She is also a finalist for the South African Breweries Foundation awards via Fetola, a development agency focusing on igniting a culture of entrepreneurship in South Africa with an impetus on women, youth, people with disabilities and those in rural areas.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2018/02/13/traditional-and-thriving/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Traditional And Thriving</a>
Her clientele is mostly companies that have workers on the field, and in such industries as construction, education, engineering, mining as well as municipalities. Some of her clients include Anglo American, Sun Time Square, City Power, FET colleges, to name a few.
Gwele started Westrand in her bedroom with a laptop and her own savings. Prior to that, she was a salaried employee struggling to eke out a living.
After working in the engineering field for five years, Gwele could not see herself progressing in the male-dominated sector. The ‘glass ceiling’ compelled the mother of one to quit her job as an engineering technician and join a packaging company as a marketing executive but that didn’t last long, as here too, the entrepreneur in her was wanting to break out. She resigned yet again and that’s when she founded Westrand.
Her exposure to unsafe working conditions in different industries within the engineering field is what inspired it.
“I had visited many engineering plants and heard about all the fatalities and incidents that happen to staff and most of them are due to not wearing protective gear for the right exposure,” she says.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/entreprenuers/2017/12/14/situation-forced-entrepreneur/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: &#8216;Situation Forced Me To Be An Entrepreneur</a><a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/entreprenuers/2017/12/14/situation-forced-entrepreneur/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8216;</a>
Her seven-year experience in the corporate world trying to establish herself as a businesswoman prepared and strengthened her for her own venture.
This small-towner is now looking to establish a state-of-the-art factory manufacturing PPE safety wear and hoping to own one that also provides school uniforms for children in the Eastern Cape.
She will create job opportunities for her people, so hopefully one day they don’t ever have to leave Qumbu looking for them elsewhere. &#8211; Written by Nomsa Legodi

Keeping Them Safe And Stylish

From babyhood to adulthood, children are exposed to many forms of violence, no matter where they live.
Black adolescent boys in the United States are 19 times more likely to die than white boys of the same age, and face a similar risk of dying as their peers in the conflict zones of South Sudan. Latin America and the Caribbean have the highest child murder rates in the world. Around 300 million two-to-four-year-olds globally will experience physical punishment or verbal abuse by their parents or caretakers. And at least 15 million girls will have been sexually abused or raped by their 19th birthdays.
These are just some of the alarming findings of two wide-ranging global reports on violence against children. Both reports point to two major challenges: getting countries to gather better data on the various types of violence against children, which so often happens inside the home and/or by people known to the children, and taking steps to put an end to it.
There are still big gaps in knowledge, with many countries completely in the dark about the extent to which their child citizens are victims of violence. Even countries with better statistics have no idea how much corporal punishment happens in homes for example, or of the extent to which boys experience physical and sexual violence. All too often, violence against children is shrouded in secrecy.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2018/01/17/calling-sexual-harrassment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Calling Out Sexual Harassment</a>
Know Violence in Childhood, a global initiative to end violence against children, released a detailed report informed by 44 research papers, thousands of articles, reports and other sources. Although the report presents a global picture, the authors state that “reliable data on inter-personal violence in childhood are difficult to obtain. This is partly because such violence takes place within relationships and is hidden by a strong culture of silence”. And many children and women are reluctant to report violence because of the stigma and fear of repercussions.
UNICEF’s report, A Familiar Face: Violence in the Lives of Children and Adolescents, builds on their seminal 2014 report on child violence statistics, Hidden in Plain Sight, which compiled data from 190 countries. Their new report contains updated statistics and analysis and notes that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include targets to wipe out violence against children by 2030, offer the potential get better data on the crimes, ensure that monitoring takes place, that countries are held to account and most importantly, that they take proactive steps to stop it.
Although much more information is now available on violence against children than it was a few years ago, the gaps make it hard to compare countries with each other and for states to report and measure their progress on the SDGs.
Goal 5 (gender equality) and Goal 16 (peace) contain specific targets aimed at stopping violence against children but many of the other goals indirectly address some of the drivers of this violence too, including poverty, lack of education and poor health.
Nevertheless, if more progress is not made and if current trends continue, “close to two million children and adolescents could be killed by an act of violence by the year 2030”, warn the authors of the UNICEF report. And whether violence ends in death or not, the effects of pervasive and various forms of abuse throughout childhood have an insidious impact on society in general, says Know Violence Global Co-Chair A.K. Shiva Kumar.
“From severe physical punishment to sexual abuse to homicide, childhood violence damages individuals, families and communities in both rich countries and poor, with a cost in trillions of dollars a year.”
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2017/10/16/oprah-keeping-promise-made-mandela/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Oprah Keeping The Promise Made To Mandela</a>
Violence against children is closely tied up with violence against women. Children who see their mothers abused will more likely perpetrate violence themselves, warn the experts.
Childhood violence occurs in many forms – corporal punishment in the home and at school; physical, sexual and emotional abuse by adults or peers.
“Beyond the immediate physical damage it causes, exposure to violence can traumatize children, harm school performance, lead to depression and other illnesses, and increase the chances that young people will become the victims or perpetrators of violence in the future,” say the Know Violence in Childhood authors.
The UNICEF report cites an emerging body of research that shows the toxic effects of violence and other trauma on the developing brains of children in the first 1,000 days of their lives.
Violence not only threatens children’s physical safety but their cognitive and emotional development too. This is particularly disturbing given that data from 30 countries showed that nearly half of all one-to-two-year-olds were verbally abused or received corporal punishment.
Online violence is another emerging category of violence as more and more children around the world gain access to the Internet. Online bullying, harassment, sexual extortion and “grooming” for sex and child pornography are now the shadow side of increasing interconnectedness between children and their peers or with adult strangers, including those in far-flung parts of the globe.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2018/01/08/dark-side-social-media/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: The Dark Side Of Social Media</a>
Yet there is still a great deal of public ignorance about the many forms of violence that children experience. According to the UNICEF report, “Despite a growing awareness of the global nature of violence against children, the misconception that it is relatively rare persists. Media reporting typically focuses on extreme cases, such as death or rape. And while such tragedies, thankfully, are relatively uncommon, other acts of violence are not.” The authors also conclude that two out of three violent acts against children and adolescents are inter-personal rather than a result of broader conflict or civil unrest.
Although both reports make the point that violence happens across all economic strata, in rich and poor countries, low-income and high-income families, three regions in Africa nevertheless take the top three spots in tables compiled by Know Violence in Childhood for 2015: West and Central Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa, and Middle East and North Africa. These regions have the highest combined totals for the following categories: corporal punishment; bullying and physical fights; physical and sexual violence against girls; and child homicide. Although Latin America and the Caribbean have the highest rate of child murder, the other forms of violence are far lower in these regions. Industrialized countries have the lowest rates of all these categories combined. Another statistic shows that sexual violence against girls is worst in Eastern and Southern Africa, followed by West and Central Africa and Middle East and North Africa.
So what steps do experts recommend for taking steps to end the many forms of violence against children? As UNICEF says, “It will take individual and collective action to right this global wrong.” Measures must be taken at state, community and inter-personal levels, say the experts. Outlawing violence is a first step. So far, only 60 of 193 UN member states prohibit corporal punishment in the home. In schools, corporal punishment is either partly or fully illegal in roughly 130 countries.
Other steps include addressing the socio-economic conditions that perpetuate the violence such as unemployment, poverty, substance abuse and the like. And hopefully the SDGs will help build public awareness and pressure countries to come on board with clear efforts to prevent it.
Raising awareness in communities and among parents and caregivers on the rights of children and on the toxic effects of violence against them, as well as helping them find different strategies to manage children’s behavior, are among the recommendations the Know Violence in Childhood report makes.
Tackling hierarchical school systems that allow corporal punishment and other violence such as bullying is another. UNICEF is partnering with school programs to help teachers use strategies that promote better behavior rather than resort to punishment. The organization, a partner in the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, has also developed a program called INSPIRE, which aims to spread awareness around programs that have been shown to work.
And, despite the downside of so many children being online, there is an upside too: technology can also protect children, with online awareness raising campaigns or mobile phone map applications, for example, that can help keep them safe.

Children At Risk From A Known Enemy

A few years ago, amid gale force winds in the Antarctic Peninsula, I was busy photographing Gentoo penguins who were calmly positioning themselves in a circle to avoid the sweeping ice particles, akin to rugby players during a huddle.
While most of my fellow travelers had scampered back to the ship from Port Lockroy, the first British base in Antarctica, I was snapping away until the last zodiac boat summoned me back to the ship. There was one other photographer more keen on shooting these birds than myself, who soon became a good friend for the rest of the journey. This person was a native of Cape Town, Lee Slabber, a famous landscape and wildlife photographer living in the beautiful suburb of Noordhoek. I accepted Slabber&#8217;s invitation to visit him in South Africa and one of the highlights of my visit was to photograph the African penguin along the coastline on False Bay near Cape Town.
All penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere, though it’s a common myth they all live in Antarctica. In fact, penguins can be found on every continent in the Southern Hemisphere. It’s also a myth that penguins can only live in cold climates. The Galapagos penguin, for example, lives on tropical islands at the equator. The secret to their survival is the presence of ocean currents from Antarctica, which push cooler waters northwards.
After photographing all the seven Antarctic species and three sub-Antarctic species, I was very keen on seeing the African penguin near the Cape. Waking up well before dawn, we drove to one of the secluded beaches in anticipation of seeing penguins wake up from their nests to go to sea. Slabber mentioned that sunrise photographs of the penguins, while challenging, gives a photographer the opportunity to see them not only go fishing in the sea but also watch them return.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/life/2017/02/01/dont-see-travel-brochures/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: What You Don&#8217;t See In Travel Brochures</a>
It was a cold morning in May when the temperature was hovering around 13°C. We took up our positions near a boulder to see the spectacle unfold in front of us.
<div id="attachment_35020" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-35020" class=" wp-image-35020" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Penguins-1-212x300.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="354" />(Photo by Ramdas Iyer)</div>
The sky was magical with spectral colors revealing themselves in the cool morning light. The penguins started stirring outside their nests and seemed to stretch on the boulders until a sufficient number of them gathered and slowly began making their way towards the water which was perhaps 25 meters away.
Crouching and crawling, I was trying to photograph them against this brilliant sky in the background. We followed them into the water by taking a circuitous path away from the bushes to avoid startling or trampling little ones. We perched ourselves in a location where boulders shielded us from the chilly winds, but not from the cold wet sand.
The steady march of these birds both in and out of the water made for some spectacular photography. A few males were courting their smaller female counterparts, with the male throwing its flipper over the shoulder of the female and shepherding her along the beach like how humans would do.
Penguins are, perhaps the most loved of birds. We’ve been fascinated by them for just about as long as we’ve known they existed. When penguins are on land, their actions appear to us so humorous and expressive we identify them with moods and actions similar to our own. In reality, penguins live in some of the harshest environments, exhibiting amazing survival skills very far from our prying eyes.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2017/10/26/will-elephants-left-2030/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Will There Be Any Elephants Left In 2030?</a>
After a good hour of spending time with them it was time for us to leave and not stress them anymore with our presence, despite the fact they adapted well to us. All along the southwestern coast of South Africa and parts of Namibia, penguins have colonies in small rocky islands allowing them to fish and breed. But over the centuries, these islands connected with the mainland thus exposing their vulnerabilities.
<div id="attachment_35021" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-35021" class=" wp-image-35021" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Penguins-2-e1516350071712-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="401" height="266" />(Photo by Ramdas Iyer)</div>
Today, the African penguin is considered a vulnerable animal and has been listed as ‘endangered’ by the IUCN. They are attacked from air, land and water. With sea surface temperatures rising, their food sources are further afar exposing their presence in water to seals and sharks. Aerial predators like Kelp Gulls plunder their eggs, while on land, cats, humans and lizards are doing their share. There is an approximate 2% decline in the African penguin population every year, mainly due to habitat disruption and competition for food from commercial fisheries.
Numerous South African wildlife organizations, such as the <a href="https://sanccob.co.za/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds</a> (SANCCOB), are dedicated to saving the African penguin. As one of 17 mega diverse countries in the world, South Africa’s penguin is a gift to this land from the southern oceans. If you have not seen and enjoyed their antics yet, it may be a visit long overdue to the beaches of the Cape.

The African Penguin’s Day Out

For as long as women have been in the workforce, tolerating sexual harassment has been their cost of earning a living alongside men. Today, it’s a silent epidemic affecting half of the population in a society that has been conditioned to assume ‘that’s just how the world works’. For decades, this misogynist pathology has allowed powerful men to use women as sexual cannon fodder. But the world can no longer ignore this issue; women can no longer remain silent.
The allegations against movie producer Harvey Weinstein sparked a global conversation about the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace, and the culture of silence when it comes to reporting it. Weinstein covered up 30 years of crimes such as demands for sex in return for roles, indecent exposure and rape, with settlements, non-disclosure agreements and blacklisting anyone who tried to report him. As it stands, over 60 women, including A-list actresses Lupita Nyong’o and Angelina Jolie have come forward to add their names to the list of Weinstein’s victims.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2018/01/08/dark-side-social-media/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: The Dark Side Of Social Media</a>
The presence of sexual harassment in the film industry is not surprising. It’s part of an age-old custom known as the ‘casting couch’, where Hollywood powerbrokers demand sexual favors from aspiring actresses in return for roles.
Aliki Saragas from the South African advocacy group SWIFT (Sisters Working In Film and Television) says sexual harassment and abuse of women remain one of the biggest struggles in the industry, and the Weinstein scandal only works to highlight what has been an ongoing struggle for women in film and entertainment worldwide. One can be forgiven for thinking the industry has evolved over the years and the casting couch is just a relic from Hollywood’s golden age, but its tactics appear to have lived on in the system created by men like Weinstein.
Courtnae Paul, a dancer and choreographer in the South African entertainment industry, said she had her first casting couch experience at the age of 12 in a studio, where an older, unnamed producer tried to kiss her.
Johannesburg-based scriptwriter Lisa Mncube said that after she reported her sexual abuse, instead of receiving comfort she was treated as “dirty and mischievous”.
The casting couch may be exclusive to this industry, but the idea that women have to endure unwanted sexual advances for career success exists in every field. Sexual harassment is endemic in all workplaces. It’s in the White House and the army, in the media and tech industry, in academia, corporate boardrooms and every institution where there is a power imbalance. A case in point is the financial sector, where men hold the majority of leadership roles.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/life/2017/12/08/karlie-kloss-codings-supermodel/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Karlie Kloss &#8211; Coding&#8217;s Supermodel</a>
Anusha Naidoo, who has a senior position in South Africa’s corporate finance sector, says this abuse of power limits women’s opportunities for growth.
“If I’m in an uncomfortable situation, I’m told to get over it or ‘toughen up’ if I want to progress in this field,” she says.
Naidoo recalls an encounter she raised with her superior, which he dismissed as her being too sensitive.
“This is why women in male-dominated industries don’t report their issues, because we fear the stigma might hurt our careers in the long run.”
Johannesburg-based financial planner Samiksha Budhram says men in the financial industry treat the workplace as a ‘boys club’, passing crude and callous remarks about women among themselves, sometimes in the presence of other women.
“The fact that men have the freedom to harass a woman even when she isn’t in the same room is a cruel privilege,” Budhram says. “It’s as if we are invisible.”
<div id="attachment_35005" style="width: 262px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-35005" class=" wp-image-35005" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Harvey-Weinstein-226x300.jpg" alt="Harvey Weinstein #MeToo" width="252" height="335" />Harvey Weinstein (Photo by Getty Images)</div>
The Weinstein scandal has emboldened over 300,000 women worldwide to share their stories of sexual harassment and gender-based violence on social media using the hashtag #MeToo.
What’s important about this thread is that it gives a voice to acts that are public, but silenced by convention.
“Why were you dressed like that? Why did you go there? Why were you there alone? You could have avoided it.”
Because most women have already heard this before, they stay silent fearing no one will believe them.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2017/12/06/gaslighting-surely-happened/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Gaslighting &#8211; Surely, This Has Happened To You Too</a>
Sadly, women’s rights are largely marginalized in South Africa. According to Crime Stats SA, there were 51,895 sexual offences reported in South Africa in 2016, just over 142 per day.
SWIFT ran a survey of its own in January this year, outlining gender disparity in the workplace. Of the women surveyed, 23.7% indicated that they had been unwillingly touched in the workplace and 65% have witnessed sexual harassment in the workplace. 71% said they did not have a support structure to report their cases and feel human resources departments don’t care about employees, but rather protect the companies’ interests. Moreover, the majority of these women said there would be no repercussions if the perpetrator was reported because men in the industry protect one another, confirming sexual harassment to be a larger, systemic problem.
This is why Lee-Anne Bac, a director at Grant Thornton Johannesburg, feels there is an urgent need to employ more women in positions of power in the workplace. A Women in Business report released by Grant Thornton early this year shows women in leadership roles have dropped from 27% in 2016 to 23% in 2017, and less than a quarter of businesses surveyed had no women in senior management positions.
“Women are fighting from a position of lack of power, and until the balance is tilted, it will remain a difficult influence change,” Bac says, adding that Africa’s strong patriarchal culture contributes to these difficulties.
But to change a patriarchal culture that has existed for centuries isn’t up to women alone. Sexual harassment is not just a women’s issue, it’s a human issue.
“If there is to be an end to this epidemic, men have to become allies with women and not bystanders,” says Melvin Pather, a lecturer at the University of Cape Town who offers his perspective on how men can help. “If you as a man are in a position to do something, your silence makes you complicit,” he says.
The events that have occurred over the past few months form a watershed moment in how society deals with sexual harassment and assault. All men have a responsibility to lead by example and aim for a culture of zero tolerance and accountability. Once women feel they have a safe platform to voice their issues, more of them will blow the whistle on sexual harassment when and where it happens, and it won’t take decades for powerful men like Weinstein to be held accountable for their crimes. &#8211; Written by Cadine Pillay

Calling Out Sexual Harassment

2017 was the year women’s sport finally got some of the respect it deserves, from men. It’s the year British tennis player Andy Murray made a statement about women in sport: that they should be treated, spoken about and assessed in the same way as men.
After losing the Wimbledon quarterfinal in July to Sam Querry, Murray was asked his views about his opponent being the first American to reach the semi-final of a Grand Slam since 2009. Rather than provide an opinion, Murray corrected the journalist by stating that Querry was the only male player to achieve that feat.
For his troubles, Murray was lauded by Serena Williams who said female players “love” him for speaking out, and she had good reason to feel that way.
At least one of Serena or her sister Venus had played in the Wimbledon final for all but three years since the 2000. In 2017, with Serena out of action on maternity leave, Venus staged a remarkable comeback from an autoimmune condition, to become the oldest Grand Slam finalist in 23 years, underlining Murray’s point.
It’s only natural that our list of sportswomen to watch in 2018 starts with a tennis player but we also look at which women to watch at three major events and a runner with a proud record to preserve.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/sport/2017/12/14/25-highest-paid-athletes-time/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: The 25 Highest-Paid Athletes Of All Time</a>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">January </h3>
<div id="attachment_34988" style="width: 312px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-34988" class=" wp-image-34988" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Sloane-Stephens-e1516089227656-300x198.jpg" alt="Sloane Stephens" width="302" height="199" />Sloane Stephens (Photo by Getty Images)</div>
Sloane Stephens at the Australian Open
Not only did Sloane Stephens become only the fifth unseeded player to win a Grand Slam in the Open Era when she lifted the US Open Cup in September, but she also became the first American woman whose surname is not Williams to triumph at a major tournament since 2002. Her victory was made even more impressive because in 2016, she suffered a foot injury that sidelined her for 11 months and saw her ranking plummet to 957.
More important than Stephens’ victory for herself, was her emergence as a role-model for scores of young black African women. Stephens comes from a rich sporting pedigree – her father was an NFL player and her mother, a swimmer – and has been playing tennis since the age of nine. Though her form dipped towards the end of 2017, she has already shown she knows how to return strongly.
<h3 style="text-align: center;">February </h3>
<div id="attachment_34989" style="width: 307px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-34989" class=" wp-image-34989" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Bobsled-300x218.jpg" alt="" width="297" height="216" />Bobsled (Photo by Getty Images)</div>
Nigerian Bobsled Team at the Winter Olympics 
It’s unusual for Africa to be represented at the Winter Olympics, because the continent does not have the same lengthy period of cold (and often snow) needed for sports like ice-hockey and skiing but three Nigerian women, Seun Adigun, Ngozi Onwumere, and Akuoma Omeoga, aim to change that. The project is driven by Adigun, who once dreamed of becoming the first woman in the NBA, then changed her focus first to sprinting and now to bobsled – a sport in which teams of between two or four members make their way down twisting iced tracks on an engine-less sled.
Bobsled is an expensive pursuit that requires specialized equipment and training gear and, to that end, Adigun launched a gofundme campaign to raise $75,000 to aid her cause. The trio trained in western Canada and clocked impressive times in their first two qualifying events.
At the time of writing, they were placed 12th out of 13 participants in the North American Cup but with the cut off for the Winter Games only in January, they may have a surprise up their sleeves and could yet appear in South Korea.
<h3 style="text-align: center;">April</h3>
<div id="attachment_34990" style="width: 313px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-34990" class=" wp-image-34990" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Mary-Keitany-e1516089513151-300x221.jpg" alt="" width="303" height="223" />Mary Keitany (Photo by Getty Images)</div>
Mary Keitany at the London Marathon 
Think Kenya and you automatically think of runners and Mary Keitany is one of the country’s finest and quickest. A seasoned marathoner, Keitany has claimed gold medals everywhere from Seville to Delhi but she seems to save her best for the biggest races. She has won the London Marathon four times, and in 2017 broke the record for a women-only marathon, finishing in a time of 2:17:01. Doubtless, she will return to the event with an intent to dominate.
Also keep an eye out for her later in the year in November when the New York Marathon takes place. Keitany won the race in 2014, 2015 and 2016 but could not notch up a fourth consecutive win in 2017, finishing second to Shalane Flanagan. Pre-race, Keitany was tipped to win and to break the course record, something she will want to go back for in 2018.
<h3 style="text-align: center;">July-August </h3>
<div id="attachment_34991" style="width: 313px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-34991" class=" wp-image-34991" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Hockey-women-e1516089633699-300x204.jpg" alt="" width="303" height="206" />Photo by Getty Images</div>
South Africa’s Women’s Hockey Team at the Hockey World Cup
The only African women’s team at the Hockey World Cup, South Africa have historically been the continent’s strongest with stick in hand. They’ve qualified for the last five World Cups with a highest-placed finish of 7th in 1998, and have been the only African side at the event since Nigeria in 1978. But that does not mean it’s all plain sailing for them.
Though South Africa is better resourced then some of the other teams in Africa, they have also had recent hiccups. At the African Hockey Cup of Nations, played in Egypt in October 2017, the women’s team had to share a coach with the South African men’s side, but still managed to go on and win the event.
Impressively, they put 24 goals past their opposition and did not concede any, to maintain a clean sheet for the duration of the event.  South Africa won all four of their group stage games and beat Ghana in the final.
Better news for the South African Women’s team is that they have smoothly transitioned from one corporate backer to another. Investec sponsored them for five years from 2009 to 2014 and when they chose not to renew their affiliation, Private Property stepped in.
<h3 style="text-align: center;">November </h3>
<div id="attachment_34993" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-34993" class="size-medium wp-image-34993" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Janine-van-Wyk-Banyana-e1516090229593-300x213.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="213" />Janine van Wyk during the international friendly between South Africa and Ghana. (Photo by Gallo Images)</div>
African Women Cup of Nations 
The continent’s favorite sport, football, will dominate 2018, with all eyes on Russia mid-year to see if an African country can finally go beyond the last eight at a World Cup. Then, attention will turn to qualification for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations but the year will end with the African Women’s Championship in Ghana from November 17.
Unlike the men’s competition, which has been expanded to 24 teams from the usual 16, the women’s event is played between only eight teams which make the qualification, which will be contested among 24 teams, almost as important as the tournament itself.
It’s a two-stage process, the first of which will see 20 teams play off against each other over two legs with winners progressing to a second round, where the four highest-ranked African women’s sides, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and South Africa, have been automatically included. The 10 winners and the four other teams will then have home and away play-offs, with the seven victors joining Ghana in the main tournament but the pressure does not stop there.
As important as being crowned queens of the continent is, there is also an added incentive to make it as far as the semi-finals. The finalists and the winner of the usually bland third-place playoff will qualify for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France.
Only two countries have won the tournament in its 27 year history. Nigeria are 10-time and defending champions while Equatorial Guinea were crowned champions twice. &#8211; Written by Firdose Moonda

Top Sport Stars In 2018

It’s a grey and drizzly afternoon on London’s Brick Lane, but in the colorful Cereal Killer Café, the Berhane twins snap, crackle and pop with a fizzy brand of good-natured irritation.
They’re telling stories in British Sign Language about the challenges that led them to create <a href="http://beinghermonheroda.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Being Her</a>, their vibrant, globally-popular fashion blog, an internet and Instagram sensation that has propelled them to celebrity status in their native Eritrea.
“In the fashion world, we still feel a bit invisible and side-lined,” says Hermi (whose sign name is Curly Hair, a gesture like a flowing river).
“But it’s funny, because slowly their attitude has changed… They look at our story and the work that we’re doing, and it’s starting to inspire them.”
The twins fell suddenly and profoundly deaf at seven years old, on the same day, because of an undiagnosed illness, and their mother rushed them to the USA and UK in search of an answer.
It was in Brighton, on the English south coast, that their worlds eventually opened up through sign language.
“We found our identity at boarding school,” says Heroda (sign name: Long Eyelashes, the panache of an elegantly scooped finger).
“Sign language was so beautiful, and the deaf community just became our family. Within the hearing world, it can be very lonely. As soon as we were in that deaf world, we fitted in – it was where we belonged.”
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Both studied fashion design at the University of the Arts in London, but often felt isolated and misunderstood.
“We were determined to get through the course, we really wanted to stick at it, so we focused on the work,” says Heroda. “But it really affected our confidence. We were viewed as ‘less than’; they doubted we could achieve the same as them.”
After a series of knock-backs after graduation, when the twins experienced rejection at the job interview stage or being passed up for promotion, they had had enough. Their blog was born, the success of which still fazes some members of the hearing community.
“They email us telling us they can help us to hear and be more successful,” Hermi says. “And we’re like, ‘Hello? We’re successful bloggers! Can you not read?’ Just because we are deaf, they think we’re dumb.”
<div id="attachment_34970" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-34970" class=" wp-image-34970" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Hermi-Berhane-©-Aneesa-Dawoojee.jpg" alt="Hermi Berhane Being Her fashion blog" width="300" height="383" />Hermi Berhane (Photo by Aneesa Dawoojee)</div>
The blog (and its Instagram account) is a giddy celebration of joyful vibrancy and individuality; while they insist their photographs and style selections are not meticulously planned, their fashion shoots pulse with a focused understanding of contrast and color. There’s even a hilariously spooky Halloween photo story, with the undead twins accessorized with matching zombie-babies.
With representation by The Presley Group in Los Angeles recently secured, the future for the twins looks as bright as their outfits (they’re as effortlessly stunning in jeans and sparkly motorcycle jackets as in heels and flowing geometric tribal prints).
“Our aim is to have a brand, we want to have collaborations and sponsorship,” says Heroda. “And we want to do some motivational speaking for people with disabilities, just to show them that they don’t need to have low self-esteem, they can be confident in themselves.”
It is touching that almost by way of illustration, the twins turn and address each other with their signing when they respond to these questions – a sisterly feedback loop of affirmation and reinforcement.
“Within the deaf community there are so few role models that other deaf people can look up to,” Heroda says. “So we really want to be there, to be able to support people, so that they can look up to somebody and think, ‘oh yeah, in the future, I can do that, I can achieve my dreams’.”
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/life/2017/12/08/karlie-kloss-codings-supermodel/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Karlie Kloss &#8211; Coding&#8217;s Supermodel</a>
In tandem, they also hope for more understanding of deaf awareness in the hearing world.
“Signing is physical, it’s visual, it relies quite a lot on facial expressions and a positive vibe,” says Hermi. “So that’s one of the aims of our blog – we want to educate people on what sign language means, and give them a sense of deaf awareness. People need to be more open-minded. That’s been a problem for so long and it just still seems to be there. Not just in the fashion industry but within the work culture in offices, and all sorts of places.”
“A while ago, we met someone who told us they had seen us on Instagram, and started to learn sign language because of us,” Heroda says. “And that’s really so important. I used to be so shy. I would always hide and put my hair over my ears. Now I feel so optimistic.”
<div id="attachment_34971" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-34971" class=" wp-image-34971" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Heroda-Berhane-©-Aneesa-Dawoojee.jpg" alt="Heroda Berhane Being Her fashion blog" width="300" height="455" />Heroda Berhane (Photo by Aneesa Dawoojee)</div>
Their escalating popularity in Eritrea, and its neighbor Ethiopia, is also having a constructive impact.
“They are very supportive of us,” says Hermi. “Because in Eritrea, there isn’t much awareness about disabilities, and sometimes they think deafness is associated with evil. We’ve been able to show them deafness in a new light, and now they’re like, ‘oh wow! Those two twin girls!”
They are terrific company; there is an infectious air of mischief about them, and it flourishes in their blog as an essential ingredient in their charismatic energy.
“If you’re feeling a bit down, and you see somebody whose lives look happy, it draws you to them,” says Hermi. “And we hope that’s what our followers see in us every day.”
It’s time for the shoot (in which they will giggle and tease each other throughout), but they say they want to wrap up with a resolute message, a provocative takeaway for a new audience.
“Being deaf isn’t a barrier,” they say, shifting in their chairs, outwards towards the world. “And neither is being scared.”

Fashion Bloggers Signing Off In Style

It is estimated that one in 10 women have already experienced some form of cyber violence since the age of 15.
Research also suggests women are disproportionately the targets of certain forms of online harassment and cyber stalking. This is according to a report complied by the European Institute for Gender Equality titled Cyber Violence Against Women And Girls in June 2017. It defines online harassment as – but not limited to – unwanted, explicit online messages; hate speech, insults or threats; and inappropriate or offensive advances on social networks.
In South Africa, the Protection from Harassment Act covers both online and physical harassment. For those who think they can hide behind the anonymity of sending emails or SMSes, the act requires service providers to give the addresses and ID numbers of perpetrators to the courts.
Social media law specialist Emma Sadleir of The Digital Law Company says if someone is sending you threatening messages, you should block them immediately.
“Don’t feed the trolls, don’t give them the airtime they seek.”
Sadleir stresses the importance of using privacy settings; and the ‘block and report’ functions across social media.
“You can take legal action by getting a protection order; sending a letter of demand; or a cease and desist letter,” explains Sadleir.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/technology/2017/11/20/when-it-pays-to-be-online/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: When It Pays To Be Online</a>
A local journalist and author Shubnum Khan was a victim of stalking and online harassment. It started off innocently through a primary school friend who wanted to catch up after 18 years.
But, he wanted more from Khan and claimed she was giving him mixed messages. “If I sent a message to tell him to leave me alone because I wasn’t interested, he would say I made a typo,” says Khan.
The messages became intense when he spoke about their wedding, and referred to Khan as his wife.
When I stopped replying to his messages or calls and eventually blocked him, he took to harassing me on Twitter, says Khan. “I think social media became a platform where he felt he could force himself on to me because it was in a public space and I was active there.”
“I considered police action when he came to my house. I was so afraid to leave home because I thought he might be waiting somewhere – to this day, I get nervous every time I see a black BMW,” says Khan.
The turning point came when he posted photos of her house on Twitter.
“A few people tweeted at SAPS when he posted photos of the front of my house, but my father managed to phone his family and it died down from there.
“I consulted with a police officer as to what my next steps should be and I was considering taking out a restraining order just before it died down.
“I think having a profession where you’re in the public eye doesn’t help. Sometimes, people read my personal essays or novel and think they &#8216;know&#8217; me and understand what I need or want.
“I’m more careful about what I post now, but due to the nature of my work it’s a difficult place to negotiate,” says Khan.
“Twitter suspended the account and I feel better about it but things can quickly spiral out of control so I would suggest finding a balance in what you post in public.”
Sadleir thinks social media companies are failing their users, and should be better and quicker at responding.
“For me the problem lies in the anonymity, they are not very good at providing information about who started the account, with what device, and the IP address, which is information they have.”
“The truth is they don’t give a damn about South African laws, or any laws,” concludes Sadleir. &#8211; Written by Nafisa Akabor

The Dark Side Of Social Media

It was a holiday that inspired a brand-new career for anthropologist Motselisi Motsieloa Silindane.
While vacationing in the Nigerian capital Lagos, she was looking for clothes that would be the right fit for her and was enthralled by the beautiful colors and textures of fabric she saw and felt in the markets she visited.
They were random moments, but life-changing ones that inspired her to turn fashion entrepreneur and open an image consulting company, SwaaV, selling bespoke menswear.
On a Thursday afternoon at Silindane’s home in Buccleuch, in Johannesburg, South Africa, when we visit, she is in a small room that she uses as her office. It has a mirror, a built-in wardrobe and a suit ready for a customer. On her table are innumerable pins, a measuring tape and pictures of her daughter and late mother. This small space contains all her creative energy.
“I have long arms; whenever I bought clothes they usually didn’t fit and this didn’t give me the confidence to step up to the world. My host in Nigeria said I could have a garment made for me; up until that time I did not perceive I could have clothes made for me. I had the dress made,” says 39-year-old Silindane.
And it was a perfect fit.
“I felt amazing,” she says.
It was a feeling she wanted to share. When she came back from the trip, she trained as a color and image consultant while selling fabric.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2017/12/06/scars-took-far/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: The Scars That Took Her Far</a>
Before that, Silindane worked as a social and market researcher specializing in HIV/Aids in children.
“My passion and enjoyment keeps me going every single day; when I left anthropology, I no longer felt happy, research takes very long for things to actualize.
“When I work with men, I measure them, let them choose fabrics, and advise them on what their colors are, in this process I get to see the beginning, the end and results and the feeling of accomplishing something,” says Silindane.
In her days as a researcher, she noticed the lack of programs packaged to empower boys. It has always been ‘take a girl child to work’.
“Are we now creating an imbalanced society because that young boy is going to grow up to marry this girl who can articulate her opinions and feelings but this boy has never been given the chance?
“I realized that even though I am working with men there is no way of knowing or changing how they have grown to perceive the world. Through SwaaV, I wanted to share that awesome feeling I had when I was in Lagos, because when you look good, you feel confident, you are more pleasant to be around,” says Silindane.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2017/12/04/from-mille-to-a-million/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: From Mille To A Million</a>
Silindile works by herself and outsources material. She extricates a well-fitted navy suit with a personalized message ‘Shine’. She says her clients like these messages.
“I chose to work with men because if there’s one person who is happy in the world then the whole world is transformed.”
Her suits can cost from R10,000 ($754) to R45,000 ($3,392). Her first order was for R50,000 ($3,768), but Silindane won’t forget it in a hurry.
“My first order was from a gentleman who had just landed from Cape Town; we met at a restaurant in Sandton for two hours, I shared my vision with him, and he asked me to make suits for him,” she says.
“The jackets were all wrong, they were not well-fitting, and the measurements were off. I got my second and third order from him; I also got referrals from him because I fixed it and made sure it was perfect.”
2011 was a tough year for her; her biggest cheerleader, her mother, died and her bank account was empty.
“I was undercharging; I lost more than R250,000 ($18,000); and at the same time, I had to make a payment of R20,000 ($1,505). I had the exact amount in my account, so I was left with nothing. That moment in my life was just too hard. I stayed in bed, in the dark, and I’d only wake up to go to the bathroom,” she recalls.
Thankfully, those days are behind her. Silindane has launched an online store and sock range, has also dressed Richard Branson, and on her Facebook page, followers call her the ‘first lady of suits’. Clearly, she has made the cut. &#8211; Written by Yonela Mgwali

Making The Cut – From An Empty Bank Account To Dressing Richard Branson

“Calm down. You’re so sensitive. Where’s your sense of humor? You’re crazy!”
If you’re a woman, in all probability, you’ve heard it before.
Psychologists refer to this as ‘gaslighting’ – silencing techniques used to shut you down after you have addressed someone else’s behavior. In that moment, the speaker is making a judgment about how you should feel.
Gaslighting is when one person systemically confuses the other person into thinking their reactions are crazy, to the point where they actually question their sanity. The term is not very mainstream as it originated from the 1940’s film Gas Light, where a husband manipulates his wife into thinking she is crazy.
While gaslighting is not a universal truth for all women, there are plenty of women who unknowingly encounter it at home, in personal relationships and especially at work.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2017/12/05/80-hours-week-work/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Over 80 Hours A Week At Work?</a>
Sbusi Dlamini, HR Business Partner for ShowMax in Johannesburg, says gaslighting commonly manifests in the workplace when there is a power imbalance, such as a manager and his/her assistant. It starts with simple acts such as withholding key information like dates or details of a project, lying about instructions given or not providing the necessary support when in a position to do so.
For instance, if a woman raises valid concerns at work, she is considered to be whining or moody. If she is insulted and her feelings are hurt, it’s her fault for not having a sense of humor. In both these scenarios, the woman is to blame and both parties are conditioned into believing that women’s opinions don’t hold as much weight as men’s, and what women have to say and what they feel aren’t as legitimate.
“It is malicious because it plays on your worst fears and desire to be understood,” says Dlamini.
Dlamini points out that gaslighting is not exclusive to submissive, introverted women, but confident, assertive women with power are also vulnerable to it.
“Women are traditionally labeled as too sensitive or over-emotional, so they are more susceptible to gaslighting in various roles and industries.”
An example of this is the infamous ‘Google Memo’ written by a now former Google engineer, James Damore. He wrote that women are not suited for certain jobs because of their genetic make up, and the gender gaps at work are not due to discrimination, but inherent biological differences between men and women.
Such gender stereotypes are harmful to women because spending your days working with a colleague who believes you were born incapable of being good at your job can eventually lead you ask yourself: “What am I doing here?”
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2017/08/14/we-men-for-women/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: We, Men For Women</a>
Dlamini also believes that in addition to gender, race plays a role in the reality of women in corporate Africa.
“People of color, women in particular, are historically taught to be submissive and this undeniably follows them into the workplace. As a result of this, they find themselves submitting to those in power in order to progress, thus allowing abusive behavior,” she says.
Dlamini says the first step in dealing with gaslighters is to detach yourself so you can distinguish between the world of the gaslighter and the real world.
“It’s important to remember that gaslighting only works when you believe what the other person says,” she adds.
In her experience, she advises victims to keep a written record in case they should doubt their memory. Bringing in a third party can also help keep track of what transpires, as well as reporting the case to human resources.
Women deserve the equal, unbiased opportunity to prosper in the workplace without abusive mind games that perpetuate discrimination.
“Once you are aware of it, the hard part is over and you can work to mentally overcome it,” she says.
<h2>7 signs you are a victim of gaslighting:</h2>
<ul>
<li>You are constantly second-guessing yourself and doubting your capabilities</li>
<li>You often feel confused and “crazy” at work</li>
<li>You often ask yourself if you’re being too sensitive</li>
<li>You are always apologetic or feel you’ve done something wrong</li>
<li>You feel your thoughts and ideas are shut down</li>
<li>You are indecisive because you don’t trust your own judgment</li>
<li>You doubt your own sanity</li>
</ul>
&#8211; Written by Cadine Pillay

Author: Forbes Woman Africa

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA