On Sunday, 9 August, another Women’s Day was commemorated. From the iconic day in 1956 to 2025, women still carry the legacy of those 20,000 South African women who staged a march to the Union Buildings to protest against the proposed amendments to the Urban Areas Act of 1950.
In Stellenbosch, women came together in many forms. Dr Shaundre Jacobs, Senior Lecturer at Stellenbosch University in the exercise, sport and lifestyle medicine department and the co-organiser of Stellies Shake Out, made it her mission to organise an event that would create a sisterhood of women to support one another.
A Women’s Day run in which 65 ladies were present, occurred on Sunday 10 August. For Jacobs, the objective was to “create an inclusive and safe environment for women trail runners. We wanted to expose women to the sport and show them how fun trail running can be.”
Every year, along with the Women’s Day run, Jacobs chooses to support women’s charities or causes. This year’s donations were made to a charity drive that supports rape crises by assembling care packages for survivors at Thuthuzela Centre. If you want to support this cause, donations can be made to Stellies Shake Out’s weekly trail run on Thursdays at 18:00. Make sure to follow their Instagram @stelliesshakeout for any updates.
Furthermore, Stellenbosch University took to their Instagram to highlight the importance of women and their impact on the SU community with a surprise tribute. Using the hashtag #SheGotMeHere, a series of posts were made to honour the “quiet strength behind woman’s success”. SU students, male and female, wrote short pieces about the most important women in their lives, whether it be their mom, sister, grandmother or best friend.
Even though Women’s Day is celebrated for a single day, the efforts to uplift and empower women in the Stellenbosch community continues every single day.
By Rebecca Rossouw
