South African veterans to be honoured in Atlanta

The event, held by The South African Women’s Alliance and the Africa-USA Unity, will take place on Saturday, 24 August 2019.

“We created this platform to highlight the strength of an African woman,” says Sandra Zikalala, the co-founder of The South African Women’s Alliance.

“We honour the women who made a contribution to the liberation of South Africa - the trailblazers. We honour those who paved the path for others and contributed towards the liberation of the country,” she adds.

“The core purpose and vision are to promote South African music, culture, and artists in America,” says Africa-USA Unity founder Quebec Miya.

For the past five years, the event has honoured the likes of politician Sophia Williams-De Bruyn, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Felicia Mabuza-Suttle, and Asnath Mahaba.

“We honoured Felicia Mabuza-Suttle because of the work she did – becoming the first South African woman to host a talk show and paving a way for many other South African women. We honoured Sophia Williams De Bruyn as part of the 60th anniversary of the March, and for the fact that she is the last living leader of the Women's March. We also honoured Asnath Mahaba who was the first African woman to become a pilot and who opened a flight school for girls to learn how to become pilots. Phumzile Ncuba was also honoured for becoming the first South African vice-president,” says Sandra.

“The important thing is that we honour people while they are still alive and showcase the strength of an African woman to the world. We wanted to honour Winnie Mandela last year, but she passed on before the event."

She adds that this year, the main focus is honouring women in the music and film industry.

“We are celebrating music and film and 25 years of democracy. So, we decided to honour Leleti Khumalo – one of the first lead actresses who acted in the political film 'Sarafina'. We will also be honouring Abigail Kubeka for her iconic roles in music, film and theatre,” says Sandra.

The event goes beyond just honouring those who have played a vital role in promoting South Africa on the world stage.

“We also connect aspiring businesswomen from South Africa with American investors. Businesswomen who come to the event wanting to expand their businesses get to engage and connect with the investors. Some investors are looking to invest in South Africa, so this is the platform for them to get to meet South African businesswomen who are looking to expand their businesses and create more opportunities,” says Sandra.

“Apart from that, this event showcases the South African culture and creates opportunities for those wanted to visit South Africa. They get to engage with South Africans and the more we showcase South Africa, the more people becoming comfortable with it. This is why we have now partnered with the Department of Tourism and the DTI.

"We also have exhibitors from South Africa showcasing their work."

Miya adds that they “will be bringing in four surprise South African musicians to perform at the event.”

“We will also have four or five events in Atlanta and are planning to do two fully blown concerts with the artists we will be bringing."

Next year they are hoping to have South African musicians collaborate with American artists.