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News - Date: 05 March 2010
One of the country’s top gender activists and a female traditional leader, Hosi Lwandlamuni Nwamitwa II, has vowed to continue fighting for the rights of women.
Nwamitwa, who made history by proving to the courts that even women could succeed their fathers in chieftaincy, was one of the proud recipients of an award during the Calvary Community Empowerment Award ceremony.
The ceremony, which is one of the premier days on the calendar of the church, was held at the packed church auditorium at Lwamondo outside Thohoyandou on Saturday
Nwamitwa was rewarded for her selfless fight against gender inequality and for the rights of women in the country.
A seasoned politician, but a teacher by profession, she has paid her dues as she served the people of South Africa as a parliamentarian for over 15 years. She was introduced as being amongst the first in most of her positions – she was one of the first female members of the multi-party negotiating process at Kempton Park, who prepared for the first constitution for the new democratic South Africa. She was also one of the first women parliamentarians who represented the ANC in 1994. She is also well travelled, having visited many overseas countries.
Introducing the awards, the founder of the Calvary Christian Church, Dr Maxwell Masakona, said as a church they deemed it fit to recognize all those who go beyond the scope of their duty in improving the lives of the ordinary people and developing their areas for no reward at all.
He said the church did not exist in a vacuum and this was the reason why they were recognizing people who were not even members of his church. “We have to acknowledge the good that these people are doing in public, for all to see that hard work pays. This will serve as an encouragement for them to work even harder and we will have development in our areas,” he said.
Nwamitwa was handed the award by Vho Thovhele Gole Mphaphuli. The visibly excited Nwamitwa thanked God and her family for all her achievements. “I am very humbled by this gesture by the church. We work very hard, not even knowing that there are people looking at what we are doing. It feels great to be recognised by the House of God,” she said.
She urged all women to soldier on besides all the odds.
Other recipients were The Most Reverend EMM Mureri, Archbishop of the United African Apostolic Church, Univen’s former Registrar, Mr Josias Matidza, Prof Alfred Nevhutanda, chairperson of the National Lottery Board, Evangelist Mbulaheni Makhani, former football legend Bricks Mudau, SABC 2 Muvhango star actor, Gabriel Vhafuwi Tembudzani, Mukhuwa wa Limpopo, gospel singer Rapson Rambuwani, former Univen Disabled Student Council chairperson Marcia Mudau, businessman par excellence Mr George Magwabeni, businesswoman and community builder Ms Annah Magwaba and Limpopo ANC secretary Mr Joe Maswanganyi.
Former recipients of the awards include the former captain of Bafana Bafana and Leeds United and deputy-president Kgalema Mothlanthe.
Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019. He currently writes on a freelance basis, covering human rights issues, court news and entertainment.
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