Celebrating Women

POWER MOVES

Shaping systems, shifting cultures and driving South Africa forward

Power is never given freely – it is demanded, shaped and lived into reality. This year’s Celebrating Women issue is anchored in the theme “Power Moves: Women shaping systems, shifting cultures and driving South Africa Forward”. It is both a celebration and a challenge: a celebration of the women rewriting the rules of leadership, business and society, and a challenge to a country that still drags its feet on gender equity.

South Africa cannot claim transformation while gender-based violence continues to scar our homes, workplaces and communities. Nor can we speak of progress when women in corporate South Africa remain locked out of the C-suite, when motherhood becomes a punishment in the form of stalled careers, and when unconscious bias and gendered language quietly reinforce exclusionary cultures. These are uncomfortable truths, but necessary ones. Real empowerment requires us to confront these systemic barriers with urgency, not platitudes.

Yet power shifts are happening. Across the small, medium and micro enterprise sector, women are building resilient micro businesses – often in the informal economy – with little structural support. Imagine the economic potential if financial inclusion, targeted funding and integrated market access became standard practice. In boardrooms and classrooms, young black women are reshaping science, tech, culture and education, proving that succession planning is not an afterthought, but a national priority. In policy spaces, too, women’s advocacy has sparked change – “she said, they listened” is no longer a slogan; it’s a lived reality.

Globally, there are lessons to be learned: from gender-lens investing to menopause-inclusive policies that acknowledge the realities of working women in midlife. Locally, some companies have shown what transformation looks like when policies aren’t performative, but deeply embedded in operations, culture and leadership. Their stories prove that when policies work, women rise – and when women rise, organisations thrive.

However, gains are fragile. The rise of artificial intelligence threatens to erode decades of progress, particularly for women concentrated in the administrative and support functions most vulnerable to automation. If we do not act intentionally, the so-called future of work risks becoming another chapter in women’s exclusion.

So, where are the women CEOs of top JSE companies? Why does gender parity at the highest levels remain elusive? Perhaps because true equity demands more than quotas – it demands reimagining leadership itself. Empathy, influence and shared authority are not soft skills; they are power moves. Women are proving that leadership rooted in emotional intelligence is not only modern; it’s essential.

Yet, even as we celebrate these power moves, one truth remains: we need men’s voices alongside ours. Gender equity cannot be advanced in silos. Power shifts demand shared accountability – men must be part of dismantling exclusionary cultures, confronting bias and standing against gender-based violence.

This issue is an invitation: to celebrate, to interrogate and to act. The time for tokenism is over. The time for true power shifts is now.

Raina Julies