South Africa’s Woman of the Year 2012 – Vote now!

After asking our readers for their feedback, we received numerous fantastic nominations for the honorary title of South Africa’s Woman of the Year. It’s been no easy feat deciding which nominees should be put forward as the best, but we’ve finalised the following nominees who display admirable personality traits and who have made a difference to other people’s lives:

Amanda said:

Thuli Madonsela has to be my woman of the year for sure.

Samantha said:

Diane Van Dyk- CEO of SC Hospice, her dedication and commitment to helping the sick, the needy and the disadvantage over the last 20 years is inspirational across all who meet her. 

Jack said:

Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma with her achievement.

Caprice said:

Definitely my mother. I have not come across a lot of people who show the amount of determination that she does; in all that she sets her mind too, over and above the fact that she suffers dearly with her health. I have never once seen her give up on anyone or any task or challenge that has come her way. My mom also thinks about and puts everyone before herself and will sacrifice anything to make sure her family has everything they need. She is full of love, compassion along with the characteristics of a great leader; dedicated to the task and fellow colleagues, team-oriented, enthusiastic and a democratic leader. I have had the pleasure of seeing her mentor other students purely out of the goodness of her heart, as well as tackling the task of voluntary humanitarian work to literally make the world a better place for the youth of today. Even though most would consider this inspirational, humanitarian work takes a lot of courage and bravery due to the politics involved and the daunting photographs, articles, case studies and journalists/associations/governments/politicians and the like who disagree with volunteers fighting towards a good cause. However, my mom does not back down because she is one person and too afraid to stand alone and be the only voice willing to negotiate with professional corporate organisations. This makes my mom South Africa's Woman of the Year for me. 

We’d love to hear what the public think, that’s why we’re opening the nominees to a public vote. Be sure to leave your vote on our Facebook wall, on the comments section of this blog or tweet @EduloanSA with the hashtag #WOTY.