Honourable Naledi Pandor Standard Bank Top Woman in Public Sector Lifetime Achiever 2022

By Koketso Mamabolo

There's an image by photographer Anna Zieminski from the official opening of Parliament in 2004, which features the late Frene Ginwala, the Speaker of South Africa's first democratically-elected parliament. Walking on the red carpet with Ginwala is South Africa's current Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Honourable Naledi Pandor.

What makes the picture particularly compelling is that Anna Zieminski captured two women who have set spectacular examples as public servants, not only for other women leaders but all leaders regardless of their race or gender. Frene Ginwala’s passing is another sign that we’re at the end of an era which could be described as the infant years of our democracy. Seeing that image is a reminder that we should be grateful that we still have leaders such as Hon. Naledi Pandor.

Lifetime Achiever

Hon. Pandor was honoured for her excellence at the Standard Bank Top Women Awards 2022 with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The Minister was unable to attend due to commitments overseas, but addressed the awards ceremony guest with a recorded acceptance speech.

“I am joining an inspiring alumni of women leaders who have previously received this award, such as former First Lady, Graça Machel, and veteran of the struggle against apartheid, Mme [Sophia Williams] de Bruyn - this company is in itself deeply humbling,” said the Minister.

She’s also in the company of a host of other winners of the award, who have set an incredible standard, including former Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, former Constitutional Court Justice Yvonne Mokgoro, business leader Irene Charnley, and entertainment icons Yvonne Chaka Chaka and the late Mary Twala.

In her acceptance speech, the Minister acknowledged the successes the country has seen in gender empowerment towards which Frene Ginwala made a telling contribution - specifically highlighting the legal frameworks which have made it possible.

“Our country has made significant progress in advancing and achieving gender transformation, supported by our constitution and the empowering provisions of its bill of rights. We have adopted policies that have supported increased legal protection, improved and expanded access to education, and access to basic services such as housing, electricity and healthcare. One of the most significant has been an increase in women’s representation and increased gender equality in many public and private institutions.”

The Minister noted how the state itself has led the way. After the first democratic elections in 1994, only 11% of President Nelson Mandela’s cabinet were women. Fast forward to the last elections in 2019 and the figure has jumped to 50%. Parliament is following suit, with 46% representation at the time of Top Women Awards ceremony.

“We have managed as government to activate public and private sector supply value chains to make sure that at [a] minimum 40% of preferential procurement in South Africa is secured from women-owned businesses,” said the Minister, speaking to an audience consisting of leaders from both sectors.

“Women as the bedrock of society must be supported in their business ventures so that they can run businesses that earn them and their families decent livelihoods. Women in our country are making tremendous progress as entrepreneurs.”

DID YOU KNOW?

Hon. Pandor is the granddaughter of South African academic Z.K. Matthews, whose students at the University of Fort Hare included former President Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo and Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi.

The Value Of Learning

“Education has always been a passion for me. But I never, ever expected that one day I would have the chance to serve as South Africa’s Minister of Higher Education and Training and even of education in a free, democratic South Africa,” said the Minister, speaking about how a quality education can help promote gender empowerment.

Her understanding of the impact education can have was nurtured by her parents, Joe and Fikile Matthews, in the years that they spent with her in exile.

“This included stints in the United Kingdom; going to school while it was very cold in Botswana; attending school when it was very hot in Lesotho, attending in very difficult conditions; and in Zambia, enjoying being in a free country. My mother always insisted that education was the most important legacy they could give us, and my father fully supported her in that view,” she said in the speech.

“I will never forget my mother walking me right up to the gates of school in London every morning, often in the cold and rain, to ensure that I attended classes fully. I forget the embarrassment, but I remember the commitment. I am forever grateful for the values of learning and commitment my mother imparted on us.”

Those values led her to completing multiple degrees, including a PhD in Education “bravely, as an over 60-year old.”

“I hope that [the award] will play some role in inspiring young women to reach for their dreams and realise that no goal is beyond their ability. I hope it will inspire older women as well,” she concluded. And may she continue to be an inspiration to all.