Celebrate Women's Month with the V&A Waterfront

This seminal event remains an enduring symbol of the unity and strength of women.

As South Africans celebrate this significant day, and Women’s Month as a whole, the V&A Waterfront is a space to pay homage to the remarkable women of our nation – including you and your loved ones.

On Saturday 11 August – the award-winning human-rights organisation Justice Desk Africa will put on an incredible performance at the Amphitheatre Stage.

Operating across Africa, Justice Desk runs two projects that address gender-based violence (GBV): the Mbokodo Club, which offers leadership and empowerment workshops, mental health care and trauma counselling, and self-defence and fitness classes to girl survivors of rape and GBV from vulnerable communities; and the Ntsika yeThemba Project, which aims to equip a generation of positive male role models to challenge toxic masculinity and GBV, as well as promote equal rights and justice for all.

Kids from various Justice Desk Africa anti-GBV projects will be front and centre at the Women’s Day concert, alongside award-winning international conductor and composer Henry Cheng, the string quartet members of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and the Mbokodo Girls Choir. The concert, which is free to attend, begins at 12h00.

 Our neighbourhood is a haven for art, and we’re incredibly proud of the fantastic creations of women.

Spend Women’s Day on Wednesday 9 August at Zeitz MOCAA immersing yourself in the inspirational works of Nigerian-born British artist Mary Evans, African-American multidisciplinary artist Mickalene Thomas, British painter Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and American painter Amy Sherald. The museum offers free entry on Wednesdays between 10h00 and 13h00 for all African citizens (take your South African ID or African passport with you).

 Visit Southern Guild Gallery before 17 August 2023 for visual activist Zanele Muholi’s self-titled autobiographical exhibition. Occupying the entire gallery, the show features several monumental bronze sculptures and new photography by the renowned artist.

Be sure to visit the brand-new sculpture at the V&A Waterfront that embodies our Women’s Month theme, ‘This is how I wear my crown’. ‘Crown Chakra’, by artist Vuyo Oyiya in collaboration with art residency Kunye Colab, will be unveiled on 8 August 2023 outside the Nedbank Building. The sculpture is in the shape of a woman’s face, with her hair elaborately covered in a headwrap that ‘represents her soulful connection to her innate divinity’.

 Feast with friends

Our neighbourhood has some of the best restaurants in Cape Town, catering to every taste and occasion, and many of these are headed up by women.

At Makers Landing, which offers locally inspired eats in a vibey setting, you’ll find women-owned eateries Emazulwini, chef Mmabatho Molefe’s modern Zulu-inspired restaurant; Michele Mistry’s Ayurveda vegan spot Indikaap; and Saa-rah Adams’s celebration of the iconic Cape Malay frikkadel, Frikkadeli.

Other women-owned restaurants in our neighbourhood are COOKED, Saray Turkish Restaurant, The Yard, Baia and The Raj.