Wealth and health go together, it is a package. This is according to the Chief Executive Officer of the South Africa Women Entrepreneurship Network (SAWEN), Ms Ruth Masokoane. Masokoane was speaking during the SAWEN-Wellness Day in Kimberley yesterday.
Masokoane told the businesswomen to start taking their health seriously. She said that the country needs women who are going to live long and sustain their businesses. This way, she added, they would be able to create more sustainable jobs, taking into consideration that small businesses employ more people.
“As SAWEN leadership, we were bothered about the sudden deaths of our members, which implied that members had silent illnesses and diseases hence we came up with this initiative. We are encouraging our members and new members to live healthy lifestyles,” said Masokoane.
Masokoane said women who led the 1956 march had laid a foundation.
“What is left for us is to take advantage of the resources that are in place for us, and make our businesses bigger and better,” she added.
According to Masokwane the Wellness Day was the 1st of many in the province.
“We are going to make it an annual event, and next year it will be bigger and better. This year was a learning curve which will inform what we do next year,” she added.
Ms Judy Moalekwa from the Department of Economic Development encouraged the women to take advantage of their office and services. She said the department is there to support aspiring and current business women in the province.
The women participated in the 2.5 km walk and marathon, aerobics as well as health screenings. Information was also shared on nutrition, TB, HIV and AIDS and Cancer. Information on available business opportunities was also shared with the women.
SAWEN is an initiative of the dti and is a membership organisation with a mandate to represent and articulate the aspirations of all women entrepreneurs who operate within the South African small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) sector.
Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe
Departmental Spokesperson
Cell: 079 492 1774
Tel: 012 394 1650
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
