Alex women packed the Sankopano Hall for the City of Johannesburg’s Young Women’s Event, which sought to empower women and ensure they take their rightful place in society.
The workshop was attended by MMC for Health and Social Development, Nonceba Molwele and reigning Miss South Africa 2014, Rolene Strauss. The other mandate of the workshop was to establish a Young Women’s Network.
This will be a platform where young women can meet regularly to share their experiences, hardships, visions and also map out solutions for the challenges they face in society and communities, such as teenage pregnancy, rape, drugs and other social ills.
Speaking at the event, Councillor Shadrack Mkhonto said the future and economic prosperity of this country rests on the protection and education of young women as they are the future mothers and leaders of this country.
“Our society and communities are riddled with social ills… We need to establish a Young Women’s Network where you can come together to tackle all these problems that confront you as young women,” said Molwele in her keynote address.
She noted that women in South Africa, and indeed the world, form the majority of citizens but are still the least empowered. The City of Johannesburg’s 2040 vision seeks to address all these and other imbalances that affect women and the previously disadvantaged racial groups, she said.
Miss South Africa, Rolene Strauss described women as “the glue that keeps our country’s rainbow nation together”. She said recognition of South Africa’s apartheid history was important, but even more important was the country’s future and that of its people.
“I am born without any negativity and I am proud to be a South African,” said the fourth-year medical student as she urged young women not to let the country’s past inhibit their future development.
