Name: Charmaine Maloba

Province: Gauteng

Facebook: Charmaine chefchae Maloba

Twitter handle: @CharmaineMaloba

Instagram: @Officialchefchae

• What is the essence of being a woman to you?

Being a reflection of everything good, including the vulnerability that comes with it. I am Life, I give life, I nurture life and I am good, being good, I am wise.

•  What is your super power?

Hmmm, my super power… besides cooking or giving birth haha? I’ll say my resilience. As a woman you are born into expectations rather than privileges, and in that regard your progress is supposedly stagnant, chosen or discredited. Who would have thought in this day and age I’d be able to climb up a ladder and accumulate so much power, growth , freedom and evolution! Not that it was never there, but the fact that it rose from my “short comings”

•  Do you relate to Women’s Month? If yes, why is it significant to you? If no, why is it not significant to you

I’ll say yes and no… yes because it celebrates what I am…. and no because I’m too much of a God to be celebrated for silly things, there’s still issues around gender inequality and abuse that instill an idea in a woman that she’s a secondary citizen, until that is understood, by everybody, especially women, then I will fully stand behind the celebration.

•  They say behind every man is a strong woman, is this a statement you relate to?

Truly, a validation of our power and place in this life lies in that statement. Let’s say “beside” …

•  How do you think society perceives women?

I think I’ve mentioned above something about women being perceived as a secondary citizen, I can definitely see that, in every aspect of life there’s just that space where we are an after thought, a scapegoat, a reason for a crime, etc… but somewhere in those little minds, they know her power, and that’s the reason she’s kept in her box, well God forbid if you unleashed the beast!

•  How are you #CommittedToChange in your role as a woman?

As a nurturer , as a female Chef, my aspirations go beyond the creation of food. One of the social ills that irk me is definitely poverty…I feel like the neglect of resources in this particular field is appalling, for some reason we still think we need money to feed, but as a matter of fact what we need is food, my grandmother still sustains herself by micro/home farming… Why can’t we do that? The western ideas have truly crippled us. I’m #CommittedToChange by teaching, instilling and affording the skill of self sustainability through home farming for most if not all impoverished communities, I do not wanna condone the idea of “taking” .. but I will instill the idea of Teaching a skill that will work for me and you, forever.

•  What do you think the role of women is in developing the country?

Taking the reigns, a young woman cannot develop the country if she is still influenced by the very entities that break her and her country down. She should not be afraid to put her point across, her ideas. And most importantly break her cycle of being a “follower”, and be willing to lead, be proud, educated, wise and be a symbol of order.

•  In a world that favours men, how are you fulfilling your role as a woman?

I’m being my own self, a human being first then a feminist, I support, condone and embrace everything “woman” .. nothing beyond that should or can hinder me from surpassing anything that feels is beyond that.

•  In your words, what would South Africa look like if it had a female president?

I think that will depend on the woman