Among the 50 incredible women on March issue of Forbes Africa Magazine, was South Africa media pesonlaity and businesswoman Bonang Matheba. She made the list of formidable movers and shakers who continue to use their voices and platforms to champion girls and women’s rights, access to quality education, and economic opportunities.
“From moghel to mogul,” Bonang Matheba, 32, tweeted after the list was made public.
Moghel is a South African slang word that loosely translates into homegirl.
It was popularised by Matheba’s reality TV show, Being Bonang. The show is just one of many hats that Matheba wears.
She’s an in-demand MC, presenter, speaker and entrepreneur whose luxury beverage brand, the House of BNG, produces sparkling wine.
Being a powerful woman, Matheba tells Forbes, “means that you create your own narrative. It means that you are strong enough to make your own decisions, to be free and to break the status quo that people have set up for women.”
For Matheba, being a powerful woman also means using her voice to champion access to quality education, inspired by the historic #FeesMustFall protests that swept across South African universities in 2017.
The protests saw university students demand an end to the high cost of university education.
Matheba launched the Bonang Matheba Bursary Fund in 2017 to help educate girls by paying for their tuition fees, stationary, and accommodation for those who are in tertiary institutions.
As well as her fund, Matheba has also addressed the United Nations on the importance of prioritising girls’ education and has leant her voice in support to Global Citizen campaigns.
Matheba was also one of the co-hosts of the historic Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 that was held in Johannesburg on December 2 2018.
Most recently, she was part ofACTIVATE: The Global Citizen Movement.
The six-part documentary series, a collaboration between National Geographic and Global Citizen, follows Global Citizen ambassadors and partners as they campaign for causes that range from criminal justice and ending extreme poverty, to education and sanitation.
It looks like it’s only a matter of time until Bonang’s dreams to move “from moghel to mogul” becomes an indisputable reality.
The media personality and businesswoman recently made it into Forbes Africa’s March issue, which celebrates the Africa’s 50 most powerful women.
That, in addition to all the money-moves she’s already made this year, is just more proof that moghel is steady on her way to being a media mogul.
“It is a great honour to be on the cover of such a prestigious magazine with other esteemed women from across Africa at such an important time for women in our continent’s development.”
Bonang added that the many challenges that women in Africa endure, including the scourge of gender-based violence (GBV) were difficult, but simultaneously part of the reason African women always stepped up and showed up.
She said the calibre of women included in the Forbes Africa issue was the ultimate squad of women that could and would help find solutions that will help Africa.
“We have numerous challenges, including gender-based violence and girl’s education, but I believe that we as empowered African women can play an incredibly powerful role in creating robust, harmonious and successful future societies,” Bonang said in a statement shared by her management.
Adding more impressive items on her long list of achievements, Bonang was the first-ever keynote speaker at SLAY Festival in Johannesburg — a one-day learning and networking event for young professional women, that moghel is passionate about.
“I’m thrilled to be the keynote speaker at SLAY Festival. It is an incredible opportunity for young women to get together to hear real talk, honest conversations and learn real world skills in order to realise their dreams and their potential and, of course, to have a fun day out to good music, good food, and great vibes,” she said.
One thing that’s clear is that Bonang has always had her eye on the prize and she knows how to get it. More than that, she looks amazing while doing it!
In 2019, Bonang visited the Scenic Drive team on Jacaranda FM and shared why she thinks she is so successful.
“It’s a mix of talent, perseverance, a lot of prayers, hard work and that thing in entertainment — that X-factor,” Bonang told Rian vanHeerden. Globalcitizen.—org/Timeslive.co.za
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