Resilience served at Women's Day breakfast

With the powerful refrain “Wathint’ Abafazi, Wathint’ Imbokodo” echoing through the room, the Blaauwberg Beach Hotel became a stage for courage, resilience, and sisterhood on Saturday, August 9.

This Women’s Day breakfast, themed around the iconic rallying cry meaning “You strike a woman, you strike a rock,” was more than just a celebration - it was a rallying point for strength and solidarity.

The morning also served a greater purpose: raising vital funds for two non-profits that have been changing lives for decades - TLC Outreach Projects and the Community Intervention Centre (CIC). 

Together, guests helped raise more than R100 000 through auctions, raffles, and an outpouring of generosity.

Keynote speaker Rachel Kolisi, co-founder of the Kolisi Foundation, stepped to the podium and immediately captured the crowd.

With raw honesty, she opened up about a childhood marked by hardship - growing up in Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown,  as one of five children, experiencing her parents’ divorce, financial instability, and, at just 14, taking on the responsibility of raising her three younger siblings after her mother left.

Her journey was one of resilience: battling mental health challenges, surviving a suicide attempt at 15, and working multiple jobs after matric - from waitressing to handing out flyers - to make ends meet.

“I thought, who am I to think that life is so bad? And this way of thinking opened up this door of perspective for me, and to this day, I constantly remind myself that yes, life is hard, but there sure is someone out there who is navigating life a lot harder than I am. I often wonder how women do it all. But somehow, it all gets done. We have superpowers, I guess,” she said.

“I then felt pregnant with my son, and adopted my ex-husband's siblings at 24 years old, and my son was born two weeks premature, and at 24 years old I was a mom of three, working full-time and then coming home to do homework or having to see sick kids,” she said.

She then resigned, and once her kids were independent enough, I went back to work and started working at a bed and breakfast.

“I just wanted that independence and I had no problem starting from scratch.I then had my fourth child and founded three companies,” she said.

Today, as a mother of four, entrepreneur, and changemaker, Ms Kolisi urged the women in the room to “step up, take our lives more seriously, and embrace our role in shaping South Africa’s diversity.”

The morning’s inspiration didn’t end there.

Two-time cancer survivor and amputee Michelle Marsden shared her extraordinary story of survival.

In her early twenties, just after becoming a mother, she was diagnosed with cancerous tumors in her leg and given a grim prognosis. 

Fourteen months of chemotherapy followed, only for breast cancer to strike in 2014, leading to a mastectomy and reconstruction.

“I was depressed and drowning in medication, but then I decided - I’m taking my life back,” she said

Today, with a metal left leg, she thrives on fitness, healthy living, and a refusal to let life’s challenges define her.

Her message was simple but powerful: “Never give up. Don’t dwell on what you’ve lost - focus on moving forward.”

As the event drew to a close, TLC founder Colleen Pietersen and CIC spokesperson Daphne O’Reilly thanked attendees for their generosity and reminded everyone that Women’s Day is not just for August 9 - it is for every day we choose to stand together, lift each other up, and keep moving forward.

“On this Women’s Day, the Blaauwberg Beach Hotel wasn’t just filled with speeches and applause - it was filled with hope, unity, and the unshakable spirit of women who, despite life’s storms, keep finding ways to rise,” said Ms Pietersen.