WOZA Africa Awards 2022 - the only Awards for women in law on the African continent

Happy Women’s Day

OUR very core is founded on the concept of women and male champions of change coming together in celebration of female excellence and gender parity in the legal profession. “WOZA” is a South African Zulu word which means “come along”. On this Women’s Day, we give thanks and gratitude for the excellent contributions made by women in their roles as mother, wife, partner, sibling, child, friend and professional. We at WOZA see you, we acknowledge you and we recognise you. Our message to all women is that the time has come for all of us to give back and pay it forward in our success. It is indeed our time to come together. So as we “nominate to celebrate” let us “lift as we rise” and empower each other not just on Women’s Day, but always. We salute the women of South Africa, Africa and the world and wish you all a very Happy Women’s Day.

The grand event on July 30, 2022 was a huge celebration. The Chief Justice of South Africa, Raymond Zondo was the keynote speaker who praised WOZA for acknowledging female excellence and emphasised his willingness to engage with organisations such as WOZA in order to accelerate the process of gender parity in the profession. He congratulated WOZA for the platform it created. In his speech he made mention of the Intellectual Property and Mergers and Acquisition categories “that it’s very important, that women get empowered in all branches of the law, there should be no branches of law that are exclusively for men”, cautioned that “we make sure women lawyers get lots of work, get quality work not just from the government but the private sector”. The WOZA Women in Law Awards was originally founded on February 28, 2019 by Rehana Khan Parker and Asha Ramdin Singhania, later joined by Subashnee Moodley and Laura Morwesi Dlepu. Research indicates that the legal profession is still maledominated, especially in specialised areas of law such as intellectual property law, construction law and information and communications law.

Women make up more than 50% of law graduates in South Africa but only comprise 40% of total legal practitioners – attorneys and advocates combined. These awards are the first and only stand-alone platform in Africa to recognise and celebrate the dedication, achievements and contributions made by women in the legal profession, for women, by women. Due to the success of the 2019 Gala awards event, the demand grew attracting over 170 nominations from South Africa, Nigeria, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania and Ghana in 33 categories. It was a night of celebrations as the awardees danced to the African beat to receive their awards. In total 84 awards were presented. The Future Ambassadors Awards, a special category created, aims to encourage law students and candidate legal practitioners who show great promise and have stood out among their peers, to persevere in a tough profession and develop themselves. An award that differs from the others is the Champion for Change award, awarded to a man in the profession with vision and commitment to the acceleration of gender diversity.

The most coveted and prestigious award is the ‘Pinnacle’ award. The award is given to a woman lawyer who displays iconic achievement embracing thought, innovation, leadership, empowerment of other women and contribution to the law. We look forward to the WOZA Africa 2024, the question everyone is asking is… where will it be held? Congratulations to all the nominees and winners We are grateful to the messages of support from members of the Judiciary, the profession, Legal Practice Council, the Law Society of South Africa, Pan African Lawyers Union, Southern African Development Community Lawyers Association, The Institute for African Women in Law and Women in Law Vienna.

Women’s Day message from WOZA women in law and the WOZA leadership academy.

DIRECTORS OF WOZA

Rehana Parker, Laura Dlepu and Subashnee Moodley