The Unisa Women’s Forum (UWF) recently hosted its annual Feroza Adam Memorial Lecture along with the Unisa Woman of the Year Awards under the theme: Generation equality: Realising women’s rights for an equal future.

Delivering the lecture, Nozipho January-Bardill, Ambassador and Chancellor of Nelson Mandela University, noted that Adam had strong views about women’s role in society: “She believed that all women must have direct involvement in society. She identified as a feminist and a political activist with pride and an irrepressible optimism,” she said. January-Bardill also emphasised that Adam was a devout activist for change from an unjust apartheid system to a democratic country that was inclusive of all irrespective of race, gender, religion, or creed, “ Feroza and other women of 1956 showed us that women are powerful beyond measure,” asserted January-Bardhill.

To add to these sentiments was Nolitha Ntobongwana, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works. “Feroza remains a heroine even today. Throughout her young life, she never surrendered to cowardice, she spoke truth to power and joined the struggles to emancipate black people against an unjust system from a very young age. If she was alive, I do not doubt that she would be at the fore to advance women's empowerment,” stressed Ntobongwana.

Feroza Adam was deeply committed to the idea of a non-sexist South Africa and, in her short life, she urged women to fight for sustainable inclusivity. In a speech given four years before her death at 33, she said “It is important for us to unite women committed to a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic South Africa. Otherwise, we will find ourselves in the same situation as women from other countries in the post-liberation era. After having struggled together with their men for liberation, women comrades found their position had not changed. We need to assert our position as women more strongly now than ever before, and we can only do that as one, unified, loud voice.”

Speakers at the event stressed one after another that women today owe it to Feroza to ensure that women of the next generation do not suffer the struggles of women today. While speakers took time to address many of the challenges women face and the importance of women coming together to address societal and systematic challenges they face, the event also took time to celebrate Unisa women who lead with excellence in their different areas of work.

Presenting the Unisa Woman of the Year Awards, Professor Meahabo Dinah Magano: UWF Chairperson, said that “As Unisa Women’s Forum, with these awards, we aim to celebrate women of excellence, valour, integrity and women who showcase who they are in their space within Unisa.”

The awards recognise women of excellence at Unisa through six categories. The winners of these categories are:

Transformative Leadership: Professor Zingiswa Monica Jojo was honoured for holding several accolades and is involved in community engagement in the field of Mathematics at the Eastern Cape.

Significant Achievement: Shamila Ramjawan has shown significant achievement in national and international spaces through her revolutionary menstrual cup which is sold in various countries.

Customer Service/Batho Pele: This award was shared among five women who render cleaning services across Unisa regions in the country. The winners are: Rodo Mbedane, Regina Kanyane Tebeila, Thabi Martha Ndala, Suzan Mnisi, and Jessina Maake.

Community Service: Morafe Tabane serves entrepreneurial communities by exposing them to bigger markets as well as pursuing them to take advantage of the Africa continental free trade agreement. Tabane also served a role as an advocate for racial equality at the Pretoria Girls High when there were racial tensions.

Courage in Adversity: La-Portia Mahlangu-Matjila was recognised for serving Unisa with passion and diligence. Outstanding about her service, in particular, is that even though she has been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, her service and passion never changed. She also continues to self-develop herself for the benefit of Unisa.

Advocacy and Promotion of Women’s Rights: The Feroza Adam Award for Gender Activism: Dr Genevieve James was recognised and honoured for transforming communities with sustainable solutions and her service as a human rights activist.

In her congratulatory address, Professor Puleng LenkaBula, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, said that since Unisa is a university community that is committed to the creation of a centre of inclusive excellence, “it is important that we ramp up the practices that showcase the women who lead from the front. That the Unisa Woman of the Year Award happens within the context of the Feroza Adam Memorial Lecture is a reminder of the generation that fought so valiantly for the freedoms we enjoy today. It is not by accident that this award takes place during August when we take the time as a country to recognise the role of women in the country,” said LenkaBula.

“As we gather today to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of these exceptional women of Unisa, we nod to this higher calling: that we will stand together and persist in acknowledging the contribution of women; in dismantling the structures that hold them back; in building the village that will lead us all to a better tomorrow,” closed LenkaBula.

*By Tshimangadzo Mphaphuli, Senior Journalist, Department of Institutional Advancement

The Unisa Women’s Forum (UWF) recently hosted its annual Feroza Adam Memorial Lecture along with the Unisa Woman of the Year Awards under the theme: Generation equality: Realising women’s rights for an equal future.

Delivering the lecture, Nozipho January-Bardill, Ambassador and Chancellor of Nelson Mandela University, noted that Adam had strong views about women’s role in society: “She believed that all women must have direct involvement in society. She identified as a feminist and a political activist with pride and an irrepressible optimism,” she said. January-Bardill also emphasised that Adam was a devout activist for change from an unjust apartheid system to a democratic country that was inclusive of all irrespective of race, gender, religion, or creed, “ Feroza and other women of 1956 showed us that women are powerful beyond measure,” asserted January-Bardhill.

To add to these sentiments was Nolitha Ntobongwana, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works. “Feroza remains a heroine even today. Throughout her young life, she never surrendered to cowardice, she spoke truth to power and joined the struggles to emancipate black people against an unjust system from a very young age. If she was alive, I do not doubt that she would be at the fore to advance women's empowerment,” stressed Ntobongwana.

Feroza Adam was deeply committed to the idea of a non-sexist South Africa and, in her short life, she urged women to fight for sustainable inclusivity. In a speech given four years before her death at 33, she said “It is important for us to unite women committed to a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic South Africa. Otherwise, we will find ourselves in the same situation as women from other countries in the post-liberation era. After having struggled together with their men for liberation, women comrades found their position had not changed. We need to assert our position as women more strongly now than ever before, and we can only do that as one, unified, loud voice.”

Speakers at the event stressed one after another that women today owe it to Feroza to ensure that women of the next generation do not suffer the struggles of women today. While speakers took time to address many of the challenges women face and the importance of women coming together to address societal and systematic challenges they face, the event also took time to celebrate Unisa women who lead with excellence in their different areas of work.