The women who came before them continue to shape the way these South African media personalities see themselves, their careers and the world around them. Their lessons have covered fearless self-belief, perseverance, patience and the importance of showing up with purpose.
South Africa marks Women’s Month every August, celebrating the women who helped shape the country. For many people, however, that tribute begins with the women closest to them. As the month draws to an end, four well-known voices from South African media have shared memories of the women who helped make them who they are.
For 5FM DJ Tshepi, whose full name is Tshepi Seakamela, the most important lessons came from the women who raised her. She says they taught her that becoming the person she was meant to be did not require anyone else’s approval.
“The women who shaped me showed me that I never needed permission to become the woman I was destined to be,” Tshepi says. “They taught me resilience—not merely the ability to survive, but the strength to endure hardship while continuing to create, dream, love, lead and help others rise with me.”
Her advice to women across Mzansi is direct: recognise your value before anyone else confirms it. Circumstances can influence a person, she says, but they do not have the power to determine her identity. Her message is to remain authentically yourself, embrace your power and rise.
For Zanele Potelwa, the women who have influenced her include members of her own family as well as some of South Africa’s most recognisable media figures. She names her mother, sisters, aunts and grandmother alongside Anele Mdoda, Bonang Matheba, Rorisang Thandekiso and Thando Thabethe.
Those women showed Potelwa that a woman can pursue any future she chooses and that determined effort can turn ambitions into reality. They also taught her not to let other people force her into a narrow identity. Dreams remain possible regardless of how they look, she says, while fearlessness, confidence, persistence and resilience are essential in every opportunity and undertaking.
Potelwa adds that faith must remain at the centre of that journey, with God as the foundation. She says she loves the women who inspired her deeply, describing her own identity as inseparable from theirs and crediting them with playing a major role in her career.
Boipelo Mooketsi carries one particular piece of advice from her mother: what is truly meant for you will not pass you by. She has relied on that belief during periods when she wondered whether she was pursuing the correct path, falling behind or watching someone else receive an opportunity she had hoped to secure.
Her mother taught her not to approach life with a sense of scarcity. Another person’s achievement does not reduce her own possibilities, Mooketsi says, and what appears to be rejection may instead be a change of direction. She encourages women in Mzansi to resist comparing their journeys with those of others, continue putting in the work, maintain faith in themselves and trust that the right opportunities will arrive.
Karabo Ntshweng identifies her grandmother and mother as the two women who have had the greatest effect on her life and career. Although she has encountered many inspiring women throughout her professional journey, she says her grandmother stood out for her strength, kindness and grace.
Her grandmother was generous and consistently placed other people’s needs first, Ntshweng recalls, while also maintaining firm personal boundaries—an example she considers equally valuable. During Women’s Month, she has been reflecting on the women who have made a lasting difference in her life.
Her mother offered a different but equally important lesson through her approach to work. Ntshweng says lasting success is built through consistent effort: a person must rise each day and commit to excellence.
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