Joan crowns her winners
JOAN Madibeng, née Ramagoshi, is throwing a feast tomorrow to honour women.
Her awards ceremony, Women: The Real Architects of Society, is the new extension of the yearly Women: The Real Architects of Society gala dinner.
Arriving fashionably late and flashing a disarming smile, how can I not forgive her? We meet at an upmarket pizza joint in Rosebank, Johannesburg, for a late lunch.
Kicking off our chat, the mother of two tells me: “I feel like I have a third child. I birthed this idea five years ago. I was truly inspired by the work I used to do as Miss South Africa, where I travelled around the world and saw the conditions women were in and realised that we don’t have enough dialogue as women.”
As such, Madibeng says, she decided to bring women together, to have a common goal and vision to find solutions to social ills. When she talks about The Real Architects of Society, Madibeng lights up. It has been running for six years now and, while she points out that it has been tough, she relishes that she has managed to bring women together in celebration of each other. This year is particularly significant as it coincides with the 60th anniversary of the historic Women’s March in Pretoria. “I thought, ‘let me pay tribute to those women of 1956 and commemorate those years and (their) journey’,” she says. Her awards aim to shine some spotlight on the heroines of today doing great work in their respective fields and communities with their inspirational efforts. “I focus more on women who haven’t been celebrated before, the unsung heroines.” Apart from this initiative, Madibeng also goes to different schools to talk to young girls and boys, challenging the youth to dream big and also for girls not to be consumed by such things as blessers. “As a society, we were so quick to embrace the ‘blesser’ term. Do young girls aspire to have blessers? They must aspire to be independent enough and bless themselves,” says Madibeng, who distinctively shows her disapproval.
Madibeng says being involved with The Real Architects of Society taught her to keep pushing harder and that there’s so much that citizens of this country can do to make South Africa better.
Explaining the challenges of going it alone, Madibeng says: “I must say it is very difficult to get people to share the same vision as you, having to convince them that this is me and this is what I’m trying to achieve, it is really challenging. However, that has strengthened something inside me that says I must never take ‘no’ for an answer.”
The formula used to shortlist nominees includes whether the woman is a leader in her field, inspiring, influential and making a difference in society.
“You can’t come to work and people don’t feel your presence, your leadership must speak volumes, there must be growth within the environment you are in and you must impact positively and grow with others as well.”
The awards are audited after an independent judging panel sends through its scores. The awards are open to everyone, says Madibeng.
She says although all nine provinces are participating, Gauteng leads with the most entries.
Reflecting on her time as Miss South Africa 2003 and running Real Architects of Society, Madibeng says it has been one big ball of inspiring the young and making change.
“For me, Miss South Africa was beyond just being on that stage and representing my country. I took it to heart and looked at it as my calling to serve and therefore I didn’t take it for granted.”
The awards take place at Kyalami Theatre on the Track in Midrand tomorrow, and a few A-listers are expected to grace the glittering event.
“Awards aim to shine spotlight on today’s heroines