Pretoria - More than 200 women from various sectors gathered for an elegant high tea in Pretoria on Saturday to raise funds to educate women, especially those in rural areas, about diabetes.
On Saturday, the Bongi Ngema-Zuma Foundation hosted the third annual fundraising high tea in celebration of Women’s Month. Struggle stalwart Sophia De Bruyn, who attended the event, was honoured in recognition of her contribution to the emancipation of South African women.
The foundation is named after, and headed by, First Lady Dr Bongi Ngema-Zuma. She told the women that the foundation aims to create an environment in which no one will die from diabetes due to a lack of information.
“Our vision is to see a South Africa where diabetes ceases to kill due to lack of awareness,” she said.
She said through donations, the foundation is growing and will ultimately reach out to all provinces. It has ran campaigns in rural and semi-urban areas in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
The foundation aspired to branch out to parts of Africa in future.
Ngema-Zuma said she would love to see sister-foundations formed in other countries, as there is currently one established in Lesotho.
“There is a similar foundation to ours in Lesotho but it focuses on heart-related diseases and diabetes. They loved what we do and we are happy to be mentoring them,” she said.
Ngema-Zuma said the foundation was established in August 2010 and it was only right that in celebrating its five-year milestone anniversary, it paid homage to women who have selflessly given their lives towards women’s liberation and growth.
De Bruyn, on receiving her honorary award, called on women to take responsibility in changing the country for the better.
“Most of the times when things go wrong we point fingers at each other. We need to realise that we are the ones who can bring change in this country,” she said.
Keynote speaker of the day, Gugu Mkhwanazi, moved hearts with her speech. She shared her ordeal of being in an abusive marriage, losing her husband to suicide, ending up in a wheelchair and having to raise her two children by herself.
Mkhwanazi said she did not know why her husband had abused her or why he committed suicide.
“… should it happen that when I die I meet him in heaven, I will ask him why he did what he did. He did not even leave a note for me when he committed suicide,” she said.
A few months after he died she was involved in an accident and due to her injuries she had to use a wheelchair.
Her children were less than five years old when her husband died and it was difficult to raise them on her own.
“Now they are teenagers, and it is still very difficult to be a single mother,” she said.
Mkhwanazi said she draws strength from other women because she knows they go through the similar situations as hers or even worse, and throughout her experiences God remains her stronghold.
Health tips
Giving the women health tips, former Deputy Health Minister Gwen Ramokgopa said while it is important to treat diseases, it is more important to prevent them.
She encouraged women to exercise regularly as it slowed the aging process and lowered the risk of cancer and chronic diseases. She pleaded with women to invest in their health.
She said although many diseases continue to kill the nation, life expectancy has increased in South Africa, and anti-retroviral treatment also contributed to that. - SAnews.gov.za
