On August 9 the national celebration of Women’s Day took place in the Jan van Riebeeck Stadium in Witbank.

Never mind the name of the stadium.

It was a glittering occasion marked by different colourful traditional gear worn by most women who came from different walks of our country to grace the occasion.

The programme included a long list of entertainers but remarkable was the band composed strictly of women who brought the crowd to their feet.

The celebration was further crowned by the performance of Rita Marley, an internationally renowned reggae artist and the wife of the late international reggae star and singer Bob Marley.

But the main event was when the President of the African National Congress who is also the President of South Africa, cde Thabo Mbeki arrived and finally took the stage to address the largely female crowd with almost all women cabinet ministers and members of parliament present.

Women’s empowerment and black economic empowerment, especially of women, featured prominently in the President’s speech.

As for the people of Witbank, it was a remarkable and memorable occasion that will forever be cherished especially by women. The celebration went on until the early hours of the evening.