A salute to women in Africa – Berea Mail

Nosipho Mkhize also took to the stage during the Salute African Goddess event at Alliance Franaise de Durban

FOLLOWING their successful Salute African Goddess event at Alliance Franaise de Durban on Saturday, visionary young dancers Cue Ngema and Nosipho Mkhize, who assembled a stellar line up for the day, said they will be hosting another protest event before closing off the year in honor of the 16 Days of Activism against the abuse of women and children. According to the two, the purpose of Salute African Goddess is for Durban artists, to come together as a collective and salute women in Africa.

Women go through a lot every single year, but we have seen in recent months the magnitude of the abuse that women go through. So even though women have their freedom and their rights, some women are clearly not free from oppression. We want to salute those women who are still in a social and economic struggle. And parallel to that, the purpose of Salute African Goddess was to give a platform for undiscovered, unsigned artists to showcase their work. We brought together a variety of artists in visual, textile and performance art, all under one roof and on one stage to help us salute women, said Mkhize.

Despite a few hiccups during the event, the young dancers said the biggest lesson they learnt is that they can achieve anything they set their minds on.

As soon as we made the decision to do the event, everything else came together when we started putting in the work and knocking on peoples doors. We were unstoppable thats the amazing power of unity! Secondly, we learnt we were understaffed. With a team of only two people, we were not prepared for some of the demands of hosting a multimedia concert event. Next time, we need people who will handle media, PR and marketing, people on the day who will do ticket sales and somebody who will liaise with the artists and be the stage manager, said Ngema.

For me, as a woman in South Africa, womens month no longer means freedom from government oppression, but it means freedom from any oppression as a woman. Let it be financial, social, cultural or religious, women need to be free. If I am living my life the way that I wish as an African woman, then I am free to celebrate. But if I have sisters all over the continent who are enslaved, then I have reason to protest. Womens month is when we give full attention to that as a country, collectively, added Mkhize.

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A salute to women in Africa - Berea Mail