To mark Women’s Day this year, Defy is highlighting the role it has played over the years in helping South Africa’s strong women to reach their full potential.
“Women have always been the nurturers and supporters, but over the years they have also assumed a more active role in society and business,” remarks Cherisse Erwee, who heads up marketing at Defy. “Our range of appliances has walked that journey with women over the decades, harnessing the power of innovation to help them fulfil a growing range of roles.”
“When South African women united to defy the pass laws under the slogan Wathint’ Abafazi Wathint’ imbokodo! (Strike the women, strike a rock) in 1956, they showed for all time that South African women are a force to be reckoned with,” Erwee says, “Women played a leading role in the liberation struggle, and continue to be prominent in post-apartheid politics, sport and business.”
In tandem with this expansion in the female role, Defy SA has continued to design affordable and innovative home appliances that enable the traditional, nurturing and caring role, while freeing up woman’s time to develop their own lives.
“I like to think that Defy’s increasingly sophisticated range of appliances is playing a part in ensuring that more and more women are able to take up positions in government and business, without discarding their traditional role,” she says.
In politics, tremendous strides have been made. Prior to 1994, 2.7 percent of parliamentarians were women but by 2015, 47 percent of all deputy ministers were female, and women made up 41 percent of the national assembly.
Corporate South Africa is lagging somewhat, but progress is being made. While only seven JSE-listed companies have female CEOs, women do account for 11.6 percent of board posts and 29.3 percent of executive managers are female.
“In the sports world, too,” says Erwee, “women are making strides.” Women are well represented in Team SA for this year’s Olympic Games, for example, and Banyana Banyana are establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with in women’s football. Iconic sportswomen like Zola Budd, Karen Muir, Gonda Betrix and today’s heroine, Caster Semenya, provide inspiration for a new generation of female athletes, and a demonstration of what is possible.
“Our current Defyning Memories campaign aims to capture some of the ways in which women play supportive and leadership roles in our society, to everyone’s benefit,” Erwee concludes. “Women have not yet achieved their full potential, but we are on the march. August 9 is a day to celebrate what we have achieved, and where we are going.”
