Khanye Mfeka | Filmmaker

uMam’Joyce Mfeka wasn’t my just grandmother, she was everyone’s grandmother. A woman of incalculable style, taste, and order who instilled in me the principles of ubuntu. Like many of her generation, she was a nurse who cared for and loved every child who needed it. My tribute to uGogo is existing as the young man she always knew I’d become. I wouldn’t be where I am were it not for her unconditional love, protection, and nostalgic stories. Ngiyabonga Gogo, for protecting me when no one else would. For nurturing my imagination and wildest dreams. May you multiply and live on in the women of our beautiful nation.

Phil Mphela | Social-media influencer

Family is more than just blood relations. I honour my friend and sister Nambitha Mpumlwana. Her grace. Her poise. Her respect and love for culture. She has taught me a lot and has been my rock, and I’m a better man because of her presence in my life.

DJ Sabby | Radio presenter

I was raised by women. Losing a father at a young age made my teenage years difficult, because I never had the reference of a perfect male figure. My mom was my pillar of strength and the closest person I had for most of my life. She faced so many challenges and adversities, and she was able to show up every day with a smile on her face. Her tenacity was inspiring. Life threw stones at her and she built castles out of that. She never gave up on us or life. She inspired me to never give up on myself and to never show my weakness to the world. To keep my cards close and always aim to deliver the best version of myself.

Glen Baadjies | Soccer player

The only woman who inspired me in my life was my mom. Growing up, I saw her struggle. She was young when she had me and she had to leave school because of me. There was this one time when I had a bad knee injury at school. I was 13 years old. They wanted me to have an operation, but we refused. She’s a praying mother and she had this belief that it wasn’t an injury, because in hospital they couldn’t see anything. So, she told them, “You can’t do an operation on my son’s leg because my boy loves football and he might not play football anymore if you do an operation.” She took a risk. Then she took me to a prophet, who told us that someone in our kasi had done those “kasi things”. She made the right decision, like she always does. After that I was okay. She’s always the person I call for everything, to this day.

Profound | Musician

This is easy for me: Uncle Waffles. I admire her level of confidence, for her to come into the game in an industry full of men with this prowess and this energy that has the capacity to intimidate men. And for her to withstand all the judgment that comes her way... For her to survive the criticism, where people think she’s just an appearance DJ and not a real DJ. And to see her fly the flag this high. It’s very rare to see a woman accelerate to Black Coffee standards at her age without much industry backing, especially from men. She’s a one of one, an anomaly.

Tino Chinyani | Presenter/model

Growing up, I was inspired more than anything by my sister. Her strength, her resilience, her passion for life. That really changed my perspective on how I look at my own life. More than anything, her respect for Christ, her faithfulness, and always being somebody who is extremely God-fearing have really impacted my life in a very significant way. I have learned so much of myself through her, and the best part about it is that we’ve always had a great bond growing up, so she’s truly somebody I admire for her courage. I’ve seen her grow into her role as a mother. The way she’s carried it with both hands and been there for her children while still being a very important support structure in our family has been beautiful to witness.

Sino Msolo | Musician

One woman who comes to mind is my mother, and it’ll always be my mother more than anyone because my mom’s been there for us. My mother’s been pushing us, my mother’s been supporting us, and my mother’s loved us unconditionally. My mother’s done male roles and she’s done female roles, even with my father there. She's very strong, she’s very loving, she’s very caring and I love her too much. I want her to know that, each and every time. We’re still kids in her eyes, and that’s what I love most. She always thinks she’ll figure it out, she’ll have a plan for everything to keep us happy.