We All Have a Role to Play
By Yuneal Padayachy, Chief Support Officer at the BEE Chamber
Women’s Month in August is more than just a page on the calendar. It is a call to honour, reflect and act. To celebrate the women who lead, create, nurture, and fight for change in every corner of society. Women’s Month is both a tribute and a challenge to honour the past, empower the present, and shape a more inclusive future.
From the fearless 20,000 women who marched to the Union Buildings in 1956 to protest apartheid pass laws, to the millions of women today who push boundaries in boardrooms, factories, farms and startups, South African women continue to rise.
They do so against a backdrop of systemic inequality, economic exclusion, and often, gender-based violence. Still, they rise. Celebration without transformation is hollow. Empowering women is not an act of charity, it is an economic, social, and moral imperative.
Why Empowering Women is Good Business and Good Leadership
Studies consistently show that companies with inclusive leadership and gender-diverse teams outperform their peers. Women bring critical perspectives, emotional intelligence, and creative problem-solving, assets no business can afford to ignore.
In entrepreneurship, women-owned businesses are some of the fastest-growing yet most underfunded. In leadership, women break silos, build collaborative cultures, and mentor the next generation. When women lead, economies grow. Families thrive. Communities heal.
From Allyship to Action: The Role of Men
The pursuit of gender equity is not a ‘women’s issue,’ it is a human issue. It requires men not to be passive observers, but active allies. Men can champion women in the workplace and in business by advocating for equal pay and speaking up for transparency in salary structures, since pay equity is non-negotiable. They can mentor and sponsor women by using their networks and influence to open doors and create visibility for talented women.
Challenging gender bias is also essential, whether that means interrupting sexist jokes, questioning biased hiring practices, or holding peers accountable. At home, men can share the load of domestic responsibilities, which empowers women to thrive professionally. Finally, men should listen and learn with humility, recognising that their experience of the world is not universal and that amplifying women’s voices is more important than overpowering them.
Creating Environments Where Women Thrive
As leaders, we must create cultures where women do not just survive, they thrive. That means investing in leadership development programmes for women. It also means enforcing zero tolerance for harassment and discrimination, as well as zero tolerance for gender-based violence. Businesses must build supplier chains that include women-owned enterprises and support inclusive procurement through Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) strategies.
A Collective Responsibility
Transformation is not the responsibility of one gender, one person, or one department. It is our collective mission, as leaders, colleagues, partners and citizens. When we support women, we transform families. We grow businesses. We uplift nations.
As we mark Women’s Month, let us not stop at symbolic gestures. Let us invest in structural change, mindset shifts, and policy reforms that open real pathways to power for women. Empowered women do not just change the world. They build it.
