Celebrity and businesswoman Carol Bouwer strongly holds that she doesn't suffer from the "superwoman complex".

Bouwer from the outside seems like the picture-perfect entrepreneur, mother and wife - especially if you spy her Instagram page. But she tells Time Out that society needs to stop creating an unrealistic false narrative about what women are supposed to be.

She insists that she never has it together and that's alright.

"Success is relative, one day I'm succeeding at this and the next I'm failing at the other one," she shares.

"Tomorrow I wake up and I'm successful as a mother, but I'm failing at my business."

Bouwer credits her success to the people around her for always being in her corner, including her husband of almost 20 years, Edward. The couple are proud parents to son, Dante.

Last night Bouwer staged the eighth annual Mbokodo Awards at Melrose Arch, Johannesburg. The awards honour women in the arts and their contribution that is often well received internationally but at home, not so much.

"It's about the fact that your own country is saying we see you and finally saying we apologise that the whole world has seen you but your own country hasn't.

"We'll like to believe we are highlighting the plight of those that helped build our democracy and then get ignored."

It has not been an easy ride to keep the awards running for almost 10 years, especially when it comes to funding.

"Getting funding for the awards and getting backing from corporate SA have been the biggest challenge. We have a problem with corporate SA doing what's popular and not what's necessary."

Last night, the awards honoured Sho Madjozi, Msaki, Billie Zangewa, Sisonke Msimang, Natasha Sutherland, Lady Skollie and Khanyisile Mthethwa.

"Choosing the winners is a very difficult... Sometimes you have someone that's very popular, but haven't done anything for their community or to highlight what SA stands for. You have to be an ambassador for our heritage," Bouwer explains.

"The winners were chosen on the basis that SA has had a very difficult year where the conversation went from gender-based violence to children abuse."