Sisekelelo Women’s Ministries high tea event

Sisekelelo Women’s Ministries (SWM) held a fundraiser during a prayer and high tea event while celebrating the start of spring at Mampuru Primary School, Spruitview, on September 9.

A group of praying women, members of SWM from various churches in and outside the Vosloorus township, wore their elegant hats and gloves to pray for South Africa and her people.

The SWM executive members are chairperson Minah Zwane (67), treasurer Molly Ndlovu (63), organiser Dorah Twala (57), administrator Dudu Mkhwebani (55) and additional members Dudu Tsotetsi (68) and Easter Zulu (75).

Zwane said the event aimed to raise funds and uplift women’s spirits and their selves emotionally, and they would gain much learning and teaching.

She said she liked this kind of event because they learnt from each other and brought guests who spoke to the women about their challenges.

“We might get a speaker to talk about abuse, parenting, or issues like drugs and how we can combat those. “We bring together ideas and minds to say how we can help our children, especially in our country,” said Zwane.

She said they identified skills among themselves to support each other and help market their businesses.

She further said they did not need to outsource anything because they had skilled people in the group.

She used Smangele Kubheka as an example, who prepared the exquisite decoration at the venue, citing that even when there was a wedding, they gave opportunities to their members.

“We are actually growing, empowering and uplifting one another,” she emphasized.

When asked what the funds were for, Zwane said they had elderly and needy people in the group and community members. However, they had to prioritise their members because charity begins at home.

“God willing, we would like to help needy children who cannot afford to pay fees by contributing and assisting them to get funding,” said Zwane.

The founder of SWM, Vicky Mngomezulu, had a vision to establish the group five years ago when she was still employed.

“I used to bunk work on Thursdays. I had this strong feeling of wanting to praise the Lord and spread the gospel. God has helped me. When we started, there were five of us, and it gradually grew. I used to invite schooler transport operators to join us while they waited for children at school,” said Mngomezulu.

She said she planned to have a safe space where women could feed their souls with the word of God to help heal those experiencing gender-based violence at home.

“Others are not comfortable at their churches. When they visit us, they receive love and are free and open about anything and everything. Some are abused at home and are not comfortable sharing their challenges with their church members, but when they are here, they are open and get assisted.”

Mngomezulu said the event was like an outing for them because they usually dressed in their church uniform.

“We meet once every second week of the month. We pray, worship and share the word of God. We also have learning and teaching sessions and discuss the challenges of single parenting, abuse, how women tolerate difficulties in their households and difficulties with children.”

She said the group was open to anyone who wished to join because there were no age restrictions.