In celebration of Women’s Day this August, we are highlighting some of the women from our community who have been trailblazers in their fields, both past and present.
There are, of course, many other women who’ve made their mark in significant ways, and we will continue to focus on their stories in future editions of the publication.
Leora Hessen
A businesswomen in Cape Town, Leora co-founded Artjamming South Africa. She has also taken on a leading role in the use of the Metaverse, being named as one of the Top 5 women in Africa in the field of Web3. She founded the African NFT Art Collective, geared to assist African artists to establish themselves in the Metaverse. Leora is also involved in various Jewish communal initiatives in Cape Town, and was named as one of 50 changemakers in the country by the Changemakers Hub.
Rolene Miller
Rolene Miller founded MOSAIC Training Services and Healing Centre for Women in 1993 as an NGO response to violence against women, domestic violence, sexual violence and lack of access to sexual reproductive health rights services and rights education. It was the first organisation in the Western Cape to start working with domestic violence complainants directly at the Courts in 1999. Recognition for Rolene’s role in the support of victims of gender-based violence was given by Parliament in 2017. She has written Womandla! Women Power! The “Herstory” of Mosaic, which tells the story of the organisation.
Golda Selzer
An academic and pathologist at Groote Schuur Hospital, Golda Selzer co-founded SHAWCO in 1943. In the field of medicine, she was a significant researcher in paralytic polio. Dr Selzer was the first person to grow the Rubella virus from an aborted foetus from a mother who had been infected with Rubella. This was a key link in understanding the genesis of congenital cardiac defects associated with children born from mothers infected with this virus.
Dame Mavis Becker
Mavis Becker, also known in professional dancing circles as Marina Lorca, is recognised as the doyenne of Spanish dance in South Africa. In addition to performing, she also served for many years as a teacher of Spanish Dance at the University of Cape Town Dance Department. She was recognised for her contribution to Spanish culture and the arts, being named a Dame of the Spanish Court.
Pippa Ehrlich
Winner of an Oscar (an Academy Award) in 2021, Pippa Ehrlich wrote and co-directed the brilliant documentary film, My Octopus Teacher, which was aired on Netflix in 2020. The movie documents the building of a relationship between an octopus living in the sea in False Bay, Cape Town, and a human being, filmmaker Craig Foster.
Gia Whitehead
The CEO of TSIBA Business School, Gia is a founder of this novel higher education institute, which this year celebrates the 20th year since its establishment in 2004, and brought in the first students in 2005. TSIBA is a social enterprise organisation comprising a Business School, Ignition Academy and Education Trust that work together to educate and prepare competent business executives and successful small business enterprises. Students who would probably be otherwise unable to acquire post-matric education because of financial or academic barriers are fully-funded in their TSIBA studies. Last year, Gia’s success was recognised in the Absa Jewish Achievers Award, when she was awarded the Europcar Women in Leadership Award.
Feodora Clouts
Known for standing up for the right of women in the Jewish community to be treated equally to men, Feodora Clouts was a Jewish communal worker, Zionist activist and educationalist. She was behind the establishment of the first nursery schools for Jewish children in Cape Town in the 1920s, and became a leader of the local Bnoth Zion organisation. In 1932, she co-founded the Union of Jewish Women’s Cape Town branch. In addition to serving within the Jewish community, Feodora also contributed to the wider community through her work in education. She was also known for her opposition to apartheid measures introduced in the 1950s and 1960s.
Helen Lieberman
Experiencing a life-changing moment in 1963 when she was first exposed to what life was like in Cape Town’s apartheid-era townships, a young Helen Lieberman established leading NGO Ikamva Labantu. Working with the women she met in the townships, she engaged with the communities to improve the conditions under which they lived. She has received numerous accolades in recognition of her passion for those less privileged, including the highest honour that the French state grants to a citizen of another country, Officier de la Légion d’Honneur (National Order of the Legion of Honour).
Hannah-Reeve Sanders
Hannah-Reeve Sanders stands out as a female leader of Groote Schuur Hospital at a time when it was rare for women to hold positions at that level. During the worst apartheid years, she fought for equal access and treatment for all, advocating for initiatives that advanced black participation in the medical and health sciences professions. She is remembered for her strong belief in fairness and compassion.
Roza van Gelderen and Hilda Purwitsky
Roza van Gelderen and Hilda Purwitsky, a devoted same-sex couple, represent the ‘New Woman’ of the 1920s, enjoying new freedoms of education, career, and lifestyle. World travellers, collectors, patrons of the arts, journalists, and teachers in Cape Town, they dedicated themselves to helping Eastern European immigrant children to adapt to their new lives. (Source: Jewish Women’s Archive).
Leah Levin
An older sister of Dr Hannah-Reeve Sanders, Leah Levin grew up in Piketberg. She moved to the United Kingdom as a younger woman, and became a significant defender of human rights, although she had no particular education in the field. Among her significant achievements was her work to free the ‘Birmingham Six’, who had been convicted for a deadly bombing, but who had been subject to abuse by the police. She also authored an important book on human rights, Human Rights: Questions and Answers, that was published by the United Nations. Recognised for her services to society, she was awarded an OBE in 2001.
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