Modjadji bio
Modjadji aims to advance businesswomen in the RSA.
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Historical milestones
Women are at the forefront of modern society but it wasn't always this way. Have a look below to see some of the important milestones for South African women in the past.
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First female doctor
unknown, 1915Anna Petronella van Heerden (1887–1975), was the first Afrikaner woman to qualify as a medical doctor. Her thesis, which she obtained a doctorate on in 1923, was the first medical thesis written in Afrikaans. She practised as a gynaecologist, retiring in 1942. She also served in the South African medical corps during World War II.She campaigned for women's suffrage in the 1920s and worked as a farmer after retiring from her medical work. She also published two autobiographical texts, Kerssnuitsels (Candle Snuffings) and Die sestiende koppie (the Sixteenth Cup). -- Wikipedia
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First female lawyer
June 28th, 1923Irene Antoinette Geffen (née Newmark) was the first female lawyer in South Africa. She was admitted to the Bar in the Transvaal in 1923. After the International Council of Women called in 1925 for national organizations to publish summaries of laws affecting women and children in each country, Geffen published The Laws of South Africa affecting Women and Children in 1928. It covered nationality law, tax law, and voting rights, among other topics. -- Wikipedia
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First white women allowed to vote
May 30th, 1930The roots of white women’s suffrage in South Africa began with the founding of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1899. This organisation was the first to campaign for White women’s right to vote in South Africa. They had realised that without political influence, their temperance would be ignored so they set a franchise department six years after the founding of the organisation. Just like Britain, the first organised advocates for women’s suffrage were middle-class reformers. For them the suffrage was a means to an end with regard to influencing legislation and not connected primarily with the status of women. The first Women’s Enfranchisement League (WEL) in South Africa was established in 1902 in Durban. Subsequently, chapters of this league were established in other South African cities, and this group became known as the Women’s Enfranchisement Association of the Union (WEAC). While WEAC did much to change the perception of women in the period after the South African War, the issue of giving women the vote was overshadowed by a number of issues. One was their stance on equality for black people. These issues successfully delayed the granting of the vote to White women in South Africa up until 1930 when the Hertzog election platform promised to raise the issue of granting the vote to white women in parliament, on condition that they supported his re-election. After his re-election, Hertzog made good on his word and on the 19 May 1930, Their plight was seen as self-serving as many of them never identified with the struggle of black women or black majority’s right to vote. -- sahistory.org.za
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First black female doctor
Unknown, 1947Mary Malahele-Xakana (2 May 1916 – 8 May 1981) was the first black woman to register as a medical doctor in South Africa (in 1947), as well as a founding member of the Young Women’s Christian Association. In 1947, Malahlela graduated from medical school and registered as a medical doctor, the first black woman in South Africa to do so. She opened a private medical practice in Kliptown and a second in Mofolo South. After the Group Areas Act, she worked at the clinic in Dobsonville. Malahlele was a founding member of the YWCA in South Africa, and active in the peace and anti-apartheid movements. She was a member of the Women's Peace Movement, a member of the Fort Hare University Council, and a chairwoman of the Roodepoort School Board. -- Wikipedia
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First white female judge
Unkown, 1969Leonora Van den Heever was born in Windhoek in 1926 but attended school in Bloemfontein. She went on to complete her MA in English at the University of Pretoria and started to work at the normaalkollege in Bloemfontein. She then became a clerk for Mr Justice CP Brink and began her LLB part-time through the University of the Orange Free State. In 1952 she was admitted to the Orange Free State Bar, and became an advocate. In 1968 she became a senior advocate, and in 1969 was appointed to the Bench in Kimberley. In 1979 she began to serve on the Bench of the Cape Provincial Divison and from 1982–1985 was part of the Bophuthatswana Appeal Court. In 1991 she became the first female judge to be appointed permanently to the appellate division of the South African Supreme Court. She also served on the Lesotho Appeal Court from 1996. -- sahistory.org.za
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First indian and coloured women allowed to vote in South Africa
Unknown, 1984South Africa accorded women who were “wholly of European parentage, extraction or descent” the right to vote in 1930 through the Women’s Enfranchisement Act of 1930. “Coloured” women and Indian women (along with men in the same categories) were accorded the right to vote in 1984 under the Electoral Act Amendment Act of 1984. Black women and black men were granted franchise after the end of the apartheid era under the 1993 Interim Constitution. - library of congress
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First black women allowed to vote
Unknown, 1984With the passage of the new Constitution South Africa was finally a free land in which rights were universal in the eyes of the law. The Newly held election say all genders and races get an equal vote. This is an especially big milestone for the black women in South Africa. The date of the election, 27 April 1994.
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First national women's day
August 9th, 1994National Women's Day is a South African public holiday celebrated annually on 9 August. The day commemorates the 1956 march of approximately 20 000 women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to petition against the country's pass laws that required South Africans defined as "black" under The Population Registration Act to carry an internal passport, known as a pass, that served to maintain population segregation, control urbanisation, and manage migrant labour during the apartheid era. The first National Women's Day was celebrated on 9 August 1994. In 2006, a reenactment of the march was staged for its 50th anniversary, with many of the 1956 March veterans. -- Wikipedia
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First black high court Judge
July 31st, 1995Mailula was the first black woman to be appointed as a high court judge, something she is proud of. She is currently the judge of the South Gauteng high court and has been involved in many cases, most notably the Oscar Pistorius case, where she was the chair of the parole review board which denied Pistorius’ appeal for early release. Mailula’s skills extend beyond the law as she is an author, having contributed a chapter titled: Gender, Culture and the Law: the South African Experience, to a book compiled by the United Nation’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. -- capricornreview.co.za/
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Our fees are in no way exorbitant. We charge R960 for one full year of being registered. However, if you prefer to not spend money immediately, then we do have another option. You can join as a member, but you will have limited access to the Modjadji benefits. You will not have access to benefits such as discounts offered or marketing opportunities. However what it does mean is that you will be kept up to date of what we are doing and achieving and you will be asked to participate in surveys. This means that you will give your opinion on issues that matter to you. Modjadji wants to represent all women.
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