The following was provided by Marthe Muller, Ref, Post #79, “Tribute to Marthe Muller, which provides a much fuller story to the feminine cultural leadership in South Africa.

Dearest Daniel, 

Thanks for this dedication, which I certainly do not deserve! I am humbled (and deeply unworthy) of being singled out in this way, maybe especially as I, as a member of a cultural minority group that had inflicted sustained harm on an oppressed majority in South Africa, has been given the opportunity and privilege over more than a decade to be a little cog in a vast collective of much wiser African women whose largess, generosity of spirit and wisdom I am supported, bathed and nurtured by.

Maybe this picture of a meeting between colleagues from SAWID and WDB (previously Women’s Development Bank) Trust, both organisations founded by Mrs. Zanele Mbeki, whom I consider one of the wisest women on the planet, puts my small contribution in context… I happen to be the only Sawidian you are acquainted with, but I am just a place-holder and servant of women much wiser than I, many pictured here. Mrs Mbeki, with head covered in light green, and Dr. Vuyo Mahlati, with head covered, closest to me, are two of the most influential and unassuming African women global thought leaders, on issues of an inclusive macro-economic framework, human development, micro-credit and productive self-reliance.

Both SAWID and WDB Trust have Afrikaner women at the helm, as  a token of the incredible humility of the African woman founder who spent so much of her life under the yoke of the Afrikaners… Now there is a lesson regarding the empowering of minorities…

Blessings and gratitude. I prayed for years that I would be sent to the place where I could most contribute my talents. The place I landed is a place where I am privileged to be mentored and nourished by women much wiser than I. There is not a greater gift one can ask for. 

And I thank you. Maybe you can merely qualify your salute by extending the salute to the collective I am privileged to represent….

Marthe

Marthe Muller,  Chief Operations Officer
South African Women In Dialogue (SAWID), IDT Head 
Glenwood Office Park, Corner Oberon and Sprite , Faerie Glen, Pretoria, South 
Mobile (27) 072 245
Office: (27) (12) 845 2032
Fax: 086 529